UAE reviews plans to launch federal gold trading platform

Emirates Gold Bullion Committee also reviews progress of proposed quality benchmark

Three companies that are part of the unnamed gold trading group were each fined Dh450,000, the Ministry of Economy said. Reuters

The UAE is reviewing plans to launch a federal platform for gold trading to strengthen the country’s role in the global gold and jewellery market.

Technical plans for the platform and for establishing a comprehensive database of all of the main players in the country's gold industry were reviewed at a meeting of the Emirates Gold Bullion Committee, chaired by minister of state for foreign trade Thani Al Zeyoudi.

The committee also reviewed the progress being made with the introduction of the UAE Good Delivery Standard, a quality benchmark for the production of high-quality gold, state news agency Wam said on Friday evening.

The committee is “confidently progressing on the path toward reinforcing the country's positions as a global hub for gold and precious stones trading and further facilitating doing business while bringing added value to this vital sector in order to contribute to increasing non-oil GDP,” Mr Al Zeyoudi said.

The minister said that the committee has made tangible progress in implementing policies aimed at bolstering gold trading to ensure the development of robust legislation conducive to spurring further growth in the sector.

“The Emirates Gold Bullion Committee is determined on ensuring the enforcement of international standards and criteria to ensure greater transparency and bolster the gold trade,” he said.

Gold and jewellery is an important sector to the UAE's economy, with precious metals and diamond trading constituting a significant part of the country’s total non-oil exports.

Gold topped the list of commodities  making up Dubai's 2020 external trade at Dh213 billion ($58bn), followed by telecoms (Dh153bn), diamonds (Dh64bn), petroleum oils (Dh57bn) and jewellery (Dh47bn), figures released by the Dubai government last week showed.

The Gold Bullion Committee's meeting also discussed ways of boosting the efficiency of the nation's customs outlets to handle the expected growth in gold trade and the prospects of accelerating co-operation with strategic partners to address local and international challenges.