Gold has proved itself that in times of difficulty it helps

Chandu Siroya is Vice Chairman of Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group and Managing Director, Siroya Jewellers, Dubai. In an exclusive interview with Sumesh Wadhera, Managing Director and Chief Editor, The Art of Jewellery, he shares his view on the current business scenario in UAE and the way forward.

- Sumesh Wadhera

Chandu Siroya

Vice Chairman of Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group and Managing Director, Siroya Jewellers, Dubai.

Most of the jewellery shops in Dubai are open now. Lockdown restrictions have been lifted, how is the response after the lockdown and how is Dubai market doing?

Chandu Siroya: Dubai Al Ras area, which is the place where the gold Souk is located, was actually one of the most severely hit during the COVID crisis. There was a complete long down meaning almost a curfew and nobody was allowed to leave their houses also. But government was very helpful at that time. They gave us limited access. 20 companies were allowed to visit offices; we were allowed access to our offices under police supervision. So, people could pay their margin calls and they did not suffer too much because otherwise the banks would have fixed their position if they could not do that margin cost. For last few weeks we are open gradually picking the trade. Initially we had 50 shops opened, then it reached a hundred. It reached 150. And today, almost all the shops are open.

AOJ: coming to the impact of the Coronavirus and also the various activities the government of Dubai has taken, please share if any CSR activity has been done by jewellers in Dubai and your members of jewellery group.

Chandu Siroya: The first and foremost is, we have requested all our members not to fire any staff. So, the number of job losses are still limited and that is as of today. But if the markets do not improve, it might change. Golden jewellery group, as such, has not done any CSR activities as yet because a lot of CSR activities are being done by the government themselves.