Tuesday, 17th October 2006 (3525 views)

Dubai will continue to play a crucial role in the gold industry according to Arshad Khan, director of the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, the world's newest online commodities derivatives exchange.

Mr Khan made his comments while addressing the Gold & Precious Metals Investment World 2006 conference in Hong Kong. He emphasised his view that, thanks to Dubai's location, it has a pivotal influence on the gold market.

As it lies between time zones from both east and west, Mr Khan declared that this affords the city "immense opportunities" in terms of global gold trading, as does Dubai's relatively huge demand for gold.

Mr Khan stated: "Gold consumption in United Arab Emirates (UAE) has risen by $110 million or 18 per cent to touch $650 million in the second quarter of 2006. On an average, shoppers in UAE spend 30 times more on gold than shoppers in the rest of world."

These figures amount to the fact that of every eight tonnes of gold mined worldwide, one tonne will end up in Dubai.

According to the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre, Dubai imported 521.7 tonnes of gold last year.

 

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