UAE-based Kaloti Jewellery Group, a major player in the physical precious metals market, has announced plans to jointly set up a mint house in Suriname in South America.

The new Kaloti Suriname Mint House to be set up in Suriname will focus on determining the purity and melting of gold and production of gold bars according to international standards, said a company statement.

As per the agreement signed with Suriname, Kaloti Jewellery Group will invest capital and share its knowledge and technical knowhow for the mint house.

Commenting on the deal, Suriname President Desire Bouters, said: “I am proud to say that Suriname will finally get its own Mint House with the assistance of Kaloti Jewellery Group. With the arrival of a Mint House, the state will be able to keep track of all the gold that leaves the country and also be able to collect taxes more efficiently and effectively.'

'All in all this is a very important step forward in the general interest of Suriname to exercise full control over the country’s assets in gold,' said Bouters.

According to him, the UAE-based Kaloti has several years of experience doing business in Suriname and is capable of refining gold to a purity of 99.99 per cent. We look forward to working with them in setting up the Mint House.”

Prior to signing the agreement, Kaloti conducted in-depth research on various Latin American markets to determine the best possible country to set up a Mint House which will help the company to expand its operations in the region, said a senior company official.
 
'Though we have been doing business with Suriname for over ten years, this is our first major project in the country and it will help us to strengthen our presence in Latin America,' said chairman Munir Kaloti

'Suriname will now act as our regional hub to serve more countries in Latin America. The Mint House will help Suriname to get more out of the gold sector by producing processed gold,' Kaloti noted.

'This yields much more than selling unprocessed gold. A significant part of the gold from the Surinamese small scale mining industry is already being exported to our refinery in Dubai for further processing,' he stated.

'This existing strong relationship with Suriname and the commitment of the Surinamese government to regulate the gold sector encouraged us to set up the Mint House in Suriname,' he added.

As part of its expansion strategy, Kaloti recently opened offices in Singapore and Miami to fortify the company’s operations in Asia and North America.

“The outlook for gold remains bullish despite fluctuations in prices. It is still the best hedge against wavering currencies and protection in times of inflation,” said its managing director Tarek El Mdaka

“Along with our expansion plans to reach out to more customers, we are also in the process of upgrading our technology to provide up to date information and real time service to our clients,” e added

An internationally recognized company with a turnover of hundreds of tonnes of bullion and gold jewellery every year, Kaloti boasts of a wide range of business interests including gold refining and assaying, bullion and gold jewellery trading.-TradeArabia News Service