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“In the last 30 years, we have succeeded in putting Dubai and UAE trading on the front. But now, the focus is how to make the gold and jewellery business more successful by improving our local manufacturing, which has improved in an excellent way [so it] gives us more confidence in selling our products instead of those from other countries,” he said.
Selling UAE-made gold jewellery products will be in focus over the next three to five years, while maintaining the country as a top trading destination, Abdullah said.
“As a trader, we're emphasising and growing made-in-UAE jewellery. Trading is not enough for us. We don't want to be only traders, but also serious manufacturers. Our aim for the next year as an industry is to be a top-producing country for jewellery. We doubled our manufacturing capacity and production in 10 and will double what we are doing today in the next five years,” said Abdullah, who is also the CEO of Jawhara Jewellery.
“We are inviting manufacturers from neighbouring and other countries around the world to set up facilities here in Dubai and the UAE,” he added.
Popularly known as the City of Gold, Dubai is home to world-renowned jewellery brands. The city has been primarily a gold and jewellery trading spot, but now it wants to strengthen its position as a global manufacturing hub.
Dubai Jewellery Group (DJG) is the largest trade body for the emirate's jewellery industry, with around 600 members representing all sectors of the trade, including bullion, gold and diamond jewellery manufacturing, wholesale and retail of jewellery, precious metals, diamond and pearl.
Ending 2024 on high
Gold prices rose to an all-time high this year but later eased and have been steady over the past few weeks. The price of the 22K variant increased from around Dh200-220 per gram last year to Dh309 per gram this year.
Joy Alukkas, chairman of Joyalukkas Group, said 2024 was a "very good year" for their company and the market as well.
“The ongoing winter season and the next few months are looking good because of weddings here in the UAE and India,” he added.
Abdullah said 2024 was“challenging” for the industry due to massive fluctuation in gold prices, but the year still ended on a decent note.
The year started very positively but a wild swing in yellow metal prices during the summer impacted the industry, he added.
“People started buying from September as prices stabilised. We are closing the year a touch better than last year despite the challenges as October, November and December have been excellent,” he added.
Shamlal Ahamed, managing director for international operations at Malabar Gold and Diamonds, said the group has seen 15-to-20-per-cent revenue growth overall as compared to last year.
The price increase was quite substantial, he said, but spending pretty much remained the same or increased this year.