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We
at Omega have for long believed that there are opportunities
to raise investment capital for the mining and resource
sector in
Dubai
and the UAE. Dubai has traditionally been a gold
centre, but in the last 4 to 5 years other jewellery
segments such as diamonds, pearl and coloured stones have
made a prominent impact both among the trade and consumers.
Dubai is also a major conduit for gold bullion into the
Indian sub-continent.
Given the potential which we see in Dubai and the UAE, we
accepted the Gold & Jewellery Group of Dubai’s
invitation to organize the mining investment module for this
conference. This was not our only participation:
we assisted in bringing certain of the major sponsors to the
conference. The conference, which was under the
patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of
Defence, UAE, was an enormous success from a networking
point of view and certainly from the point of view of the
Gold & Jewellery Group of Dubai. A major concern
(it seems) of jewellery producers is that the market for
jewellery has steadily fallen behind the market for luxury
goods; and in this regard, the conference signified progress
towards the development of a strategy to deal with this.
As regards the session for which Omega was primarily
responsible, the following gave corporate presentations.
-
John
Jones, Executive Chairman, Troy Resources
-
Robert
Friedland, Chairman, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd
-
Gerard
Kemp, Director, Rand Merchant Bank
-
Harry
Michael, Project Manager, Centamin Egypt Ltd
-
Charles
Mostert, Executive Director, Crown Diamonds NL
-
Paul
Groat and Peter McLean, Wellstar Capital Ltd
While the
audience, which numbered in excess of 300 on both days, was
impressive for its quality and interest, it was not quite
the audience which Omega envisaged. Many of those who
attended were more interested in the jewellery and trading
side than in investing in resources and mining.
Nonetheless, important contacts were made; institutional
investors with an interest in the resource/mining sector
were identified; and one-to-one appointments arranged.
In fact, we at Omega are sufficiently encouraged by what we
experienced, and by the interest shown, to set up an
investor relations presence in
Dubai. We will no doubt be making an announcement to this
effect in the next month or so.
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