Public Gold Inks Mou With Kazakhstan Sovereign Wealth Fund

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Bernama) -- Public Gold Marketing Sdn Bhd (PGM) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Joint Stock Company Samruk-Kazyna (Samruk-Kazyna JSC), Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov jointly witnessed the signing of the MoU during the Kazakhstan-Malaysia Roundtable event today.

In a statement, PGM said the partnership is poised to catalyse progress for both Malaysia and Kazakhstan through the exchange of expertise in gold trading, minting, refinery and mining, bringing the global gold market to greater heights.

It said Public Gold has taken a big leap forward to work with Samruk-Kazyna JSC to develop close commercial and strategic business relationships with local key market players.

“This partnership is set to increase bilateral investments in gold trading, mining, refinery and other gold-related business opportunities, promoting sharing of information, business leads as well as expertise, on top of technology transfer to boost business competitiveness in both countries,” it said.

To kick off the partnership with Samruk-Kazyna, Public Gold said it intends to explore the opportunity to supply the Gold Automated Teller Machine (Gold ATM) to key market players in Kazakhstan, leveraging Public Gold’s technical knowledge and expertise in establishing, deploying, and managing the Gold ATMs.

Currently, 50 Gold ATMs have been deployed throughout Malaysia mainly at airports, commercial buildings and shopping malls.

Public Gold Group founder and executive chairman Datuk Louis Ng said the company aims to invest RM20 million in deploying the Gold ATM around Kazakhstan, making it the first country outside of Malaysia to adopt its technologies.

Operating under the Public Gold Group of Companies (PG Group), PGM has been a leading player in the Malaysian gold industry.

Currently, the group has a total of 1.3 million customer base throughout Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.

Samruk-Kazyna JSC was established in 2008 through a Decree of the President of Kazakhstan, with the Kazakhstan government as its sole shareholder.

Its primary objective is to foster sustainable economic development and generate long-term value by efficiently managing a diverse portfolio of assets and providing business support to serve the best interests of the people.

-- BERNAMA