In this Thursday Oct. 11, 2012 photo, an Emirati woman discusses her purchases with a salesman at a jewelry shop in gold suq in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With low customs on gold imports, low labor charges, cheap prices and high quality, Dubai has become one of the world's best retail gold jewelry markets. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this Thursday Oct. 11, 2012 photo, an Emirati woman discusses her purchases with a salesman at a jewelry shop in gold suq in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With low customs on gold imports, low labor charges, cheap prices and high quality, Dubai has become one of the world's best retail gold jewelry markets. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012 photo, technician prepares 1 Kg containers of gold grains for melting into 995.0 purity gold bars at the Emirates Gold refinery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai now has about a 29 percent market share of global gold trade with nearly 1,200 tons -- worth about $41 billion -- changing hands annually in the city's gold markets, according to the gold industry website bullionstreet.com. At the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, traders and speculators buy and sell the metal on the futures market. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012 photo, strings of melted gold with a temperature of about 1050 degrees centigrade are poured into cooling water bath from a furnace at the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The emirate has set up gold refineries, vaults and jewelry-making facilities, importing gold -- including scrap from India -- and melting it down to produce gold bars. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012 photo, Strings of melted gold are pour into a water bath from a furnace with temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees centigrade at the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai has set up gold refineries, vaults and jewelry-making facilities giving it a about a 29 percent market share of global gold trade. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this Thursday Oct. 11, 2012 photo, a Saudi customer discusses his purchases at a jewelry shop in the gold suq, or market, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The price of gold in Dubai is fixed daily and items are sold by weight. with little or no or little charge for the often exquisite workmanship. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Dubai is sometimes called the "City of Gold" because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal.
The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India.
Dubai now has about a 29 percent market share of global gold trade with nearly 1,200 tons ? worth about $41 billion ? changing hands at the city's gold markets, according to the gold industry website bullionstreet.com.
That's up from around $6 billion worth traded in the emirate in 2003, said Malcolm Wall Morris, CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, set up by the emirate to oversee the trade. "There's no doubt the geographical location of Dubai has played an important factor," he said.
Dubai's tax-free status has made it one of the cheapest places to buy gold in the world. The emirate has set up gold refineries and vaults and jewelry-making facilities, importing gold ? including scrap from India ? and melting it down to produce gold bars. At the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, traders and speculators buy and sell the metal on the futures market.
Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. Some traders predict prices could once again rise toward the record high of nearly $1,900 an ounce, as central governments and investors look to gold as a safe bet in the unsteady world economy.
The city has also become a retail center with 600 shops selling gold ? half of them crammed into the gold souq, drawing tourists, traders and local residents.
Lola Oyekola, from Lagos, Nigeria, came to Dubai especially to buy gold.
"Because I know I will get what I want, unique ones," she said. "I can tell them what I want and they will make it for me."
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