Dubai: The World Gold Council (WGC) will shut its office in the UAE next week due to a strategic review of their operations, it said on Wednesday.
"We recently carried out a strategic review of our operations and while there are significant opportunities in the UAE, we do not currently have the appropriate critical mass there to maximise them, nor can we deploy the necessary resources," said the statement.
"As such, we have decided to reallocate our resource in the UAE," it added. The office will close on March 31.
The WGC took part in promoting the retail sector through the Dubai Shopping Festival and said it would continue to honour such initiatives, the statement said.
Some analysts believed that the UAE government and retailers were not cooperative in giving the WGC enough data for their reports; others site a slowdown in Dubai's gold business.
"I think they decided to shut down because they are having problems collecting data from traders and the government," said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst and trader at Richcomm Global Services in Dubai.
Consumers' reach
Labelled the city of gold, Dubai's retail business in recent months has taken a hit as gold prices rose above consumers' reach.
"Business has been hit so badly here I think the WGC is looking for somewhere a bit more active," said a Dubai-based gold trader who did not want to be named.
On Wednesday, spot gold hit a session high of $1,440.90, its highest since March 7 when it scored a record peak of $1,444.40 an ounce.
