Malaysia Urged To Boost Local Gold Refining To Curb Forex Outflow – Prominent Gold Retailer
By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid and Mikhail Raj Abdullah
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia must enhance its local gold refining capabilities to minimise the outflow of foreign exchange (forex) currently incurred by sending the precious metal to overseas facilities.
In making the call, Datuk Seri Louis Ng, executive chairman of Public Gold Marketing Sdn Bhd, emphasised that increasing local gold refining capacity would help reduce costs for retailers and retain more value within the domestic economy.
“It would also strengthen Malaysia’s position in the regional gold supply chain,” said Ng, who is also president of the Malaysia Gold Association (MGA).
In an exclusive interview with Bernama recently, Ng said scrap gold in Malaysia, typically with a purity of around 91 per cent, is currently sent overseas for refining to achieve 99.99 per cent purity.
This process incurs additional costs, including refining fees and gold processing losses.
“If we can refine gold locally, we can reduce the outflow of foreign exchange and retain more value in the domestic economy,” he said.
He added that expanding local gold refining capabilities would also enhance Malaysia’s standing in the regional gold supply chain, potentially attracting foreign retailers to import gold refined in Malaysia.
Ng said MGA, which represents the gold, silver and platinum precious metal industry in the country, supports this initiative by connecting members interested in investing in refining facilities.
This ultimate aim is to persuade the government to mandate local refining, similar to the policy already implemented in Indonesia, he said.
He noted that several local gold refining facilities are already in operations, including one in Batu Kawan, Penang and another in the Klang Valley.
“On the mining side, gold deposits are being actively explored and extracted in Selinsing in Pahang, Tawau in Sabah and Kota Bharu in Kelantan,” he added.
Established in 2008, Public Gold currently serves around two million customers—mostly middle-income earners—and operates 18 branches nationwide, along with approximately 100 automated teller machines.
-- BERNAMA