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My interpretation of this article: The UAE is laundering dirty gold, cleaning it, and reselling it to China and India. Western buyers tend to stay away from UA

My interpretation of this article: The UAE is laundering dirty gold, cleaning it, and reselling it to China and India. Western buyers tend to stay away from UAE gold because Emirati refineries aren't accredited, but the Chinese and Indian don't care as much. This is good business for the UAE as they become the hub for gold laundering, and can make a hefty profit getting gold at a discount and reselling it at spot prices. This is really at the expense of Switzerland, which is currently the world center for gold refining. They import raw materials, refine and purify it, and export the finished products to industry, jewelers, and investors. If you've ever bought a gold bullion bar (whether 1oz or 1kg), you'll usually notice it's in an assay and branded either "Valcambi" or "PAMP," both of which are large Swiss gold refiners.

lowdose 8y ago
Do you have any export numbers of UAE to China? I only read imports quantified next to the fact China is still number one importer of African Gold. Edit: Since 2016 UAE is on the first place but the article mentions Chinese ventures being slapped on the wrist for bad business practices. Could it be China underreported their gold imports.?
newhotelowner 8y ago
> Western buyers tend to stay away from UAE gold Do Western buyers even buy gold like indians do? Most of Indian buys 22k jewelry. In India, no one knows about accridated. Indians love UAE gold. Lot of indians from USA fly through Emirates just to buy gold from UAE. Indians thinks that UAE gold is more pure than what they can get in USA or India.
- anovikov 8y ago
  Gold is important for Indians because there is little other ways of saving money there... gold demand in India is huge.
  - sidm83 8y ago
    This was the case earlier but not so for a while. Current use of gold is mainly for jewellery, especially in weddings. This is a typical bride in South India - https://www.bookeventz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/xcover-3.jpg.pagespeed.ic.qgVHu7bzsP.jpg https://www.bookeventz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/x... Since about 2-3 decades, apart from use in jewellery, gold has been at best an 'alternative asset class' here. Unless of course one needs to hide cash income from the tax man.
    - checker659 8y ago
      Unless the lady in the photo is rich, I bet most of her jewellery is fake.
      - govg 8y ago
        Actually not. It is a huge matter of "pride" in South Indian weddings when the bride wears a lot of gold, my interpretation is that this is just one way to carry on with the traditions of dowry. Fake jewelry for the purposes of marriage is not as common in South India as it is in other parts of the country.
        filleokus 8y ago
        Is the jewellery borrowed or rented for the wedding or is it purchased and kept? That looks like a quite substantial amount of gold, like tens of thousands of USD worth. If she/they own that, I would kind of classify her/them as rich.
        xbmcuser 8y ago
        Gold jewelry is a big deal is South India. I know of a maid making $4-500 a month in Singapore. When she went back to visit after 2 years took $8000 worth of gold to give as gift to her family members. In other words 85%-90% of her total earnings over 2 years.
- helloindia 8y ago
  "Indians thinks that UAE gold is more pure than what they can get in USA or India." Gold is cheaper in UAE than in India. That's why there are smuggler rings that give people(migrant workers) free tickets in exchange for carrying gold(that is within legally permissible limit), as human mule[0]. In some instances, they dupe migrant workers into carrying them[1]. [0] https://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/12/24/the-clever-way-almost-every-single-person-on-a-flight-from-dubai-to-india-sneaked-gold-into-the-country https://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/12/24/the-clever-way-almo... [1]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/migrant-workers-turn-pawns-in-the-hands-of-gold-smugglers-from-dubai/articleshow/58138472.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/migrant-w...
tsjq 8y ago
Valcambi was acquired by Indian company Rajesh exports sometime back. "Rajesh Exports has, through its fully-owned subsidiary in Singapore, fully acquired European Gold Refineries, the 100 per cent holding company of Valcambi, in an all-cash deal of $400 million (around Rs.2,560 crore)." https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/rajesh-exports-buys-valcambi/article7470909.ece https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/rajesh-exports-bu... [just nitpicking]
ailideex 8y ago
> The UAE is laundering dirty gold, cleaning it, and reselling it to China and India. South African here. When you say UAE ... well ... do you mean African despots, their cronies, henchmen and accomplices? Because that is what is happening: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothers-hijacked-south-africa-corruption-bribes https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothe... Should UAE crack down on it? Sure, why not. Should we be clear that Africans are fucking over Africans and that it is not some external oppressing force that is to blame. Also yes.
- mk89 8y ago
  >Should we be clear that Africans are fucking over Africans and that it is not some external oppressing force that is to blame. Also yes. I understand your frustration. I have a (white) South African friend that feels the same, and when he says that to people, most of the time the first answer is "it's due to what the white men did". This of course enforces even more the idea that someone else is to blame...
  - solidasparagus 8y ago
    Many unstable countries can directly tie their current tribal problems (a major source of war and strife in Africa) back to colonial policies. It's not an excuse, but it is definitely partially to blame. Let's take the DRC since the article is about them. When King Leopold claimed the Congo Free State, he introduced a regime where atrocities were common-place. It was infamous even by colonial standards. When it became the Belgian Congo (1908), the worst crimes stopped, but racism/segregation and forced labor were still commonplace. After independence (1960), they elected president Lumumba. Looking for international help to stabilize the new country, Lumumba was turned away by the US, but got an agreement from the USSR to provide aid. Upon hearing this, the US set up an embargo to prevent Congo from receiving any of the arms and then supported a coup by Mobuto which led to Lumumba's murder. Mobuto, supported by the anti-USSR powers, made himself fabulously rich and ran the economy and government of the DRC (one of the most resource rich countries on earth) into the gutter. In 1997 Kabila's rebellion pushed out Mobuto and there has been war and rebellions for the better part of the past 22 years. Given its rich resources and poor government control, other nearby African nations have encouraged the conflict so that they are able to profit from the resources (most notably minerals into Uganda and Rwanda). The DRC never even had a chance to establish a good government Everyone is responsible for their actions and history isn't an excuse, but it's pretty easy to see how a history of resource exploitation and human rights abuse encouraged by western powers has led directly to a country full of resource exploitation and human rights abuse. African colonies are not ancient history.

lowdose 8y ago

Do you have any export numbers of UAE to China? I only read imports quantified next to the fact China is still number one importer of African Gold. Edit: Since 2016 UAE is on the first place but the article mentions Chinese ventures being slapped on the wrist for bad business practices. Could it be China underreported their gold imports.?

newhotelowner 8y ago

> Western buyers tend to stay away from UAE gold Do Western buyers even buy gold like indians do? Most of Indian buys 22k jewelry. In India, no one knows about accridated. Indians love UAE gold. Lot of indians from USA fly through Emirates just to buy gold from UAE. Indians thinks that UAE gold is more pure than what they can get in USA or India.

anovikov 8y ago
Gold is important for Indians because there is little other ways of saving money there... gold demand in India is huge.
- sidm83 8y ago
  This was the case earlier but not so for a while. Current use of gold is mainly for jewellery, especially in weddings. This is a typical bride in South India - https://www.bookeventz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/xcover-3.jpg.pagespeed.ic.qgVHu7bzsP.jpg https://www.bookeventz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/x... Since about 2-3 decades, apart from use in jewellery, gold has been at best an 'alternative asset class' here. Unless of course one needs to hide cash income from the tax man.
  - checker659 8y ago
    Unless the lady in the photo is rich, I bet most of her jewellery is fake.
    - govg 8y ago
      Actually not. It is a huge matter of "pride" in South Indian weddings when the bride wears a lot of gold, my interpretation is that this is just one way to carry on with the traditions of dowry. Fake jewelry for the purposes of marriage is not as common in South India as it is in other parts of the country.
      - filleokus 8y ago
        Is the jewellery borrowed or rented for the wedding or is it purchased and kept? That looks like a quite substantial amount of gold, like tens of thousands of USD worth. If she/they own that, I would kind of classify her/them as rich.
        xbmcuser 8y ago
        Gold jewelry is a big deal is South India. I know of a maid making $4-500 a month in Singapore. When she went back to visit after 2 years took $8000 worth of gold to give as gift to her family members. In other words 85%-90% of her total earnings over 2 years.
helloindia 8y ago
"Indians thinks that UAE gold is more pure than what they can get in USA or India." Gold is cheaper in UAE than in India. That's why there are smuggler rings that give people(migrant workers) free tickets in exchange for carrying gold(that is within legally permissible limit), as human mule[0]. In some instances, they dupe migrant workers into carrying them[1]. [0] https://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/12/24/the-clever-way-almost-every-single-person-on-a-flight-from-dubai-to-india-sneaked-gold-into-the-country https://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/12/24/the-clever-way-almo... [1]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/migrant-workers-turn-pawns-in-the-hands-of-gold-smugglers-from-dubai/articleshow/58138472.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/migrant-w...

tsjq 8y ago

Valcambi was acquired by Indian company Rajesh exports sometime back. "Rajesh Exports has, through its fully-owned subsidiary in Singapore, fully acquired European Gold Refineries, the 100 per cent holding company of Valcambi, in an all-cash deal of $400 million (around Rs.2,560 crore)." https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/rajesh-exports-buys-valcambi/article7470909.ece https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/rajesh-exports-bu... [just nitpicking]

ailideex 8y ago

> The UAE is laundering dirty gold, cleaning it, and reselling it to China and India. South African here. When you say UAE ... well ... do you mean African despots, their cronies, henchmen and accomplices? Because that is what is happening: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothers-hijacked-south-africa-corruption-bribes https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothe... Should UAE crack down on it? Sure, why not. Should we be clear that Africans are fucking over Africans and that it is not some external oppressing force that is to blame. Also yes.

mk89 8y ago
>Should we be clear that Africans are fucking over Africans and that it is not some external oppressing force that is to blame. Also yes. I understand your frustration. I have a (white) South African friend that feels the same, and when he says that to people, most of the time the first answer is "it's due to what the white men did". This of course enforces even more the idea that someone else is to blame...
- solidasparagus 8y ago
  Many unstable countries can directly tie their current tribal problems (a major source of war and strife in Africa) back to colonial policies. It's not an excuse, but it is definitely partially to blame. Let's take the DRC since the article is about them. When King Leopold claimed the Congo Free State, he introduced a regime where atrocities were common-place. It was infamous even by colonial standards. When it became the Belgian Congo (1908), the worst crimes stopped, but racism/segregation and forced labor were still commonplace. After independence (1960), they elected president Lumumba. Looking for international help to stabilize the new country, Lumumba was turned away by the US, but got an agreement from the USSR to provide aid. Upon hearing this, the US set up an embargo to prevent Congo from receiving any of the arms and then supported a coup by Mobuto which led to Lumumba's murder. Mobuto, supported by the anti-USSR powers, made himself fabulously rich and ran the economy and government of the DRC (one of the most resource rich countries on earth) into the gutter. In 1997 Kabila's rebellion pushed out Mobuto and there has been war and rebellions for the better part of the past 22 years. Given its rich resources and poor government control, other nearby African nations have encouraged the conflict so that they are able to profit from the resources (most notably minerals into Uganda and Rwanda). The DRC never even had a chance to establish a good government Everyone is responsible for their actions and history isn't an excuse, but it's pretty easy to see how a history of resource exploitation and human rights abuse encouraged by western powers has led directly to a country full of resource exploitation and human rights abuse. African colonies are not ancient history.