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Last Updated: Sep 25th, 2006 - 11:36:04 |
Gakub And Swarnabhumi Working On Gold Dinar Revival
By Che Halit Morad
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- Gabungan Koperasi Universiti Bhd (Gakub) is currently working with Swarnabhumi International Holdings Sdn Bhd towards making a reality of the government's intention to use the gold dinar as an instrument in the international Islamic financial system.
Zahimi Chik, a director of Swarnabhumi, the company that produces the gold dinar, said efforts were being taken to bring back the glorious past of the currency by introducing it for saving purposes, as a wedding gift, for zakat payment and trading.
As a first step, it is hoped that the recently launched gold dinar is accepted and used by Gakub members and eventually by more than the five million cooperative members nationwide, he said.
"The gold dinar is suitable for savings due to its lasting, intrinsic values, and it can be used anywhere and cannot be easily created or made a counterfeit.
"For zakat payment, using the gold dinar would mean payment by cash, while payments through paper money, cheques or promisary notes are still techincally considered as being debt instruments," he said.
In a larger context, Zahimi said the usage of gold dinar in the commercial sector would make a reality of the vision to make the gold dinar the choice mode of payment in international trade.
"It can unite the Muslim community through the usage of a common currency among the member countries of OIC or Organisation of Islamic Conference and see the return of fair trade for everyone," he said.
The gold dinar and silver dirham had been the syariah currency unit for the Muslim nations for 1400 years.
They were used for savings, as payment and measuring units before the advent of the paper money in the early 1900s which then replaced the use of the gold and silver currencies.
In Malaysia, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad become a leading voice in advocating the use of gold dinar in international trade.
During his tenure as prime minister, he had often stressed on making the dinar a trading currency for all countries and not just the Islamic countries.
The Islamic countries, however, are in the best position to prove the effectiveness of the system, he said.
During the OIC summit in Putrajaya, he said the grouping had agreed to Malaysia's proposal to use the gold dinar in trade transactions between member countries.
Zahimi said his company made the 1.0 gold dinar which was equivalent to 4.25 grammes of gold of 22 carats as well as the half dinar (2.125 gms) and 8.0 dinar (34gms)
Pure gold is 24 carats, but pure gold without the addition of other elements would not be suitable for making a currency unit as it is too soft, he said.
He said that although the value of gold dinar fluctuated, its value remained high, for example, for the 1.0 gold dinar the value was at RM302 on February 21, compared with RM300 as at January 12.
Over the last 5 years, gold prices have doubled, making gold an excellent long term savings investment.
Response for the gold dinar from cooperatives and individuals meanwhile has been good and the company is now in the process of appointing its main agent to help market the gold dinars nationwide, he said.
An agreement would be also soon signed to appoint the company to mint the gold dinar, he said.
Swarnabhumi is expected to produce 10 kg or 3,000 pieces of the gold dinar per month during its initial stage of production, Zahimi said.
Chairman of Gakub, Mohd Said Mohd Kadis meanwhile said that for now the gold dinar could be bought at any cooperative that has a kiosk for dinar exchange (Kodex).
"It is a proactive measure from the cooperative to encourage the use of dinar. Imagine if the gold dinar is kept as a form of savings for workers in the Employees Provident Future," he further said.
"The question now is whether other parties such as banks and financial institutions are prepared to buy the gold dinar as marketed by Gakub?" he asked.
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