Hong Kong needs to do more to compete with Singapore, Dubai on gold trading, experts say

The Hong Kong government is taking steps in the right direction to promote the city as an international gold trading centre, but more needs to be done to catch up with rivals like Singapore and Dubai, according to industry players.

“Singapore, for the last 12 years, has been pushing its gold industry by allocating land to build vaults and providing other incentives,” said Joshua Rotbart, managing partner of J. Rotbart and Company, a boutique bullion trading and storage services provider with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines.

In comparison, Hong Kong’s gold market has been on the decline since the second half of 2019 when the economy was disrupted by social unrest followed by three years of the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, he said.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority last Monday unveiled plans to expand the capacity of its gold vault to 1,000 tonnes from 150 tonnes after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his third policy address that bullion storage facilities would be enhanced to bring gold trading on par with inter­national levels.

Hong Kong’s move comes after private metals company Silver Bullion in August unveiled a six-storey vault near Singapore’s Changi Airport capable of storing up to 10,000 tonnes of silver and 500 tonnes of gold.

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Rotbart said in addition to the Airport Authority’s proposed gold vault, Hong Kong should also support the private sector to establish gold storage facilities.