Indians top investors in Dubai's Dh274B gold business

Indian investors ranked first among the top ten nationalities engaged in Dubai's thriving gold business encompassing 4,086 companies.

Expatriate investors from Pakistan, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Oman, Jordan, Belgium, Yemen and Canada are among the rest in the top 10 nationalities who constitute the bulk of 62,125 investors in the sector. These include 60,012 businessmen and 2,113 businesswomen, according to the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai, in its new report.

Despite a slump in demand for gold jewellery across the UAE in 2018, Dubai's gold, jewellery and diamond sales reached Dh274 billion, an increase of about three compared to 2017, according to the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group.

The UAE's trade in gold and precious stones has also grown significantly in recent years. The country's foreign trade in gold sector is estimated at about Dh400 billion annually. The import of gold was valued at Dh142.4 billion, while the value of exports amounted to Dh75.9 billion, and the value of re-exports in 2018 was Dh26 billion, according to the Federal Customs Authority.

"Gold price action will be rangebound in the coming weeks due to different headline hitting the wires. On the down side, 50 day moving average at $1290 will be acting as a support in the short term," said Vijay Valecha, Chief Market Analyst, Century Financial.

The gold and jewellery sector in Dubai, which has for long maintained an image as the City of Gold, provide residents gold imports from about 30 countries. According to latest data available from Ministry of Economy, the precious metals and diamonds trade accounts for a sizeable share of the UAE's economy with gold trade valued at $40 billion, jewellery at $29 billion and diamonds at $26 billion.

The UAE accounts for about 14 per cent of the world's gold trade, and Dubai, in particular.