Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘Gold a safe investment’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gold’s prominence has increased and it has turned to be a safe investment for the Indians as they are now convinced that there is no better asset to preserve wealth, says Aram Shishmanian, Chief Executive Officer, World Gold Council (WGC).

He was speaking at a function organised to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Grand Kerala Shopping Festival here on Tuesday night.

The 45-day Grand Kerala Shopping Festival-Season 3 begins on December 1.

Indians have an emotional attachment to gold and it is an integral part of their social and religious life. “There has been a sea change in the people’s attitude towards gold and a new era of prominence for gold has begun. Gold is in the blood stream and it will last for decades,” he said.

Mr. Shishmanian said the WGC was pleased to note that the International Monetary Fund had completed the sale of 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India. This amount represented almost half of the total sales volume of 403.3 tonnes approved by the IMF in September 2009.

He noted that gold always played an important role as a protector of wealth, and in these times of financial instability, that role had taken on a newfound prominence.

The WGC had been a partner of the GKSF for the past two seasons and it was keenly looking forward to using the festival as a platform for showcasing ethnic Kerala jewellery to the entire world, the CEO said.

The MOU was signed by Director of Grand Kerala Shopping Festival and Additional Director of Kerala Tourism K. N. Satheesh and WGC Managing Director Ajay Mitra.

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, and general convener of the GKSF T. Balakrishnan, WGC vice-president K. Sivaram and president of the All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants Association B. Sivarajan were among those present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Of violence and impressionable minds
Symposium on heart diseases
National meet on technological trends
State to have spatial data facility
Minister seeks ban on coconut husk export
Rajdhani Express rescheduled
Electoral officer issues reminder to media
Use of Central forces: poll panel issues directive
Selected for award
Application for SSLC concessions
BJP, CPI(M) win one seat each
Down to the wire in bitter bypoll battles
TDB interview
‘Gold a safe investment’
Prizes distributed
Trust formed in memory of Congress leader
National meet on technological trends
Fire at venue of religious meeting
Death of students condoled

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu