timesofindia.com
Dubai becomes an international gold trade centre
DUBAI: To people who love gold, Dubai is a paradise.
With low customs duties on imported gold and low wages for craftsmen, Dubai has become one of the world's biggest retail gold jewellery markets by jewellery from Italy, craftsmen from India, merchants from Syria and shoppers, it seems, from just about everywhere.
"Dubai has variety, prices and quality," says Tawfique Abdullah, chairman of the gold and jewellery group, a trade organisation that includes 379 of dubai's estimated 450 jewellery shops.
"The jewellery trade itself is expanding and demand is increasing. In 2000 we had something like an extra 15 outlets opened by retailers," Abdullah says, estimating the volume of jewellery trade in Dubai last year at about $1 bn.
Long a trading link between east and west, sitting on the southeastern corner of the Saudi peninsula, Dubai has been a major importer of gold for years, becoming the world's leader in 1997 with annual imports of about 650 metric tons.
"Dubai is a great place to buy gold. There is huge choice and prices are much cheaper than other places," Zeina Hazimeh, a 32-year-old Jordanian, says while trying on rings in Deira, the commercial centre and home to Dubai's gold market.
Designs appeal to multicultural tastes. The Safami, an elaborate gem-encrusted necklace from which coins and pendants dangle, is a popular Arabic style. Shops also offer intricate Indian looks and latest fashions from Europe.
The 18-carat gold that Europeans are used to can be found as easily as the 21-carat pieces Arabs prefer or the 22- and 24-carat gold most popular in Asia. Pieces are sold by weight.
Abdullah, of merchants' association, says prices in Dubai are 30 per cent to 70 per cent cheaper than in Europe. An average retailer here sells between 500 grams and two kgs of gold a day.
Much of the jewellery is imported, but the Emirates of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman have some 450 workshops, most staffed by Indian and Pakistani craftsmen. They produce about 45 per cent of the jewellery sold locally as well as some pieces for export.
"We have wholesellers here selling to the states, for example, selling to Europe and even selling to India," Abdullah says.
Government initiatives like an annual shopping festival, which is heavily advertised in the region, help support the trade, says Karim Merchant, an Indian who is the joint managing director of Pure Gold Jewellers, running six shops.
Jameel Abulkasm, a Syrian who owns Jamal Jewellery Co., imports jewellery from Italy for sale to Dubai's retailers and export to neighbouring countries. He says low customs duties were one of the reasons he started his business here.
There is no sales tax on gold and the customs duty of four per cent is sometimes, such as during special promotions or festivals, waived altogether.
Mohamad Shakarchi, managing director of Emirates Gold, the Persian Gulf's main refining, minting, die making and foundering company, believes Dubai could attract half of the world's gold production in a few years. Out of the world's annual production of about 2,500 tons, the Indian subcontinent and Arab countries combined buy 60 per cent, he says. (AP) |
