Wealthy investors are moving gold out of Dubai. Who benefits?

In recent years, the UAE has become a popular place to store high-value assets, including gold, but the status of "safe haven" came under pressure after the ongoing conflict in the Middle East for more than two months, notes Bloomberg. Against this backdrop, gold imports to Singapore from Dubai in March reached a five-year high.

Gold owners in the UAE face two main risks. First, if the conflict continues, insurance risk will rise sharply, says independent precious metals consultant Lars Johansson, whose opinion is quoted by Bloomberg. Standard insurance programs usually do not cover military operations, and specialized insurance is much more expensive, Johansson adds.

Secondly, investors fear that if the conflict continues, the region's airspace may be closed and it will be impossible to promptly remove assets, Bloomberg writes.

The UAE is an important bullion processing and export center for buyers across Asia, and also serves as a transit hub for shipments from other parts of the world. In recent years, the country has also become a place to store high-value assets such as gold, the agency notes.

Concerns related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have led to Singapore becoming one of the hubs for gold imports from Dubai: in March 2026, the city-state imported 1,446 kilograms of gold from Dubai - the highest in five years, according to Enterprise Singapore data cited by Bloomberg. Lincoln Ng, CEO of Singapore's Le Freeport vault, attributes this to Singapore's "developed ecosystem of high-quality services, which is a natural magnet"(quoted by Bloomberg).

Malca-Amit Group, a precious metals logistics company, told Bloomberg that it has moved more than 100 kilograms of gold from Dubai to Singapore and Hong Kong since the conflict began. In the early days of the conflict, the company received more than ten calls a day with requests to transport gold from Dubai, Eli Cohen, the company's managing director, told Bloomberg.

Wealthy clients are asking en masse to move their assets to other Asian hubs, notes Joshua Rotbart, managing partner of J.Rotbart & Co, a precious metals trading firm specializing in wealthy clients.

Still, several logistics companies and dealers surveyed by Bloomberg said the crisis in the Dubai market is likely to be short-lived. "It's a temporary crisis," Johansson agreed. Dubai, he believes, will retain its status as the "golden center" of the Middle East region, thanks to its connectivity to other shopping centers.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor