KUALA LUMPUR: In collaboration with the World Gold Council (WGC), the Malaysia Gold Association (MGA) took a significant step recently to advance the local gold industry by hosting a strategic engagement session, focusing on Advancing Best Practice Principles for Malaysia’s gold industry.
During the engagement session, WGC market structure and innovation global head Mike Oswin outlined the goals of the World Gold Council’s Retail Gold Investment Principles (RGIP), emphasising their importance in fostering integrity and trust within the gold industry.
He also shared updates on WGC’s collaborations across nine countries and explained how these principles have been effectively implemented worldwide, referencing India’s IAGES framework as an example.
“Given that India’s market reflects Malaysia’s complexity and consumer demand, it stands as a strong reference point for how structured principles can strengthen transparency, accountability, and investor confidence,” said Oswin.
The session also introduced the Malaysia Gold Industry Principles (MGIP), a voluntary self-regulatory framework tailored to Malaysia’s gold value chain. MGIP is designed to strengthen industry governance across upstream, midstream, and downstream segments—improving traceability, reducing risks, ensuring responsible practices, and enhancing consumer trust in Malaysian gold products.
The meeting garnered support from Malaysia’s gold industry players and stakeholders, drawing over 70 influential leaders across the industry in attendance. The participants spanned the entire value chain which include mining, refining, manufacturing, assaying and certification, trading, retail, banking (conventional and Islamic), cooperatives, insurance, as well as government agencies such as the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation Matrade and Sirim.
“The Malaysia Gold Industry Principles (MGIP) reflect our commitment to self-regulation, accountability and excellence. In partnership with the World Gold Council and Malaysian authorities, we are building a transparent, sustainable ecosystem that positions Malaysia as a leader in gold industry governance,” said MGA president Datuk Seri Louis Ng.
MGA in partnership with WGC and industry stakeholders will spearhead the establishment of a Local Working Group, to define the framework’s structure, scope, and roadmap. This collaborative approach will ensure that MGIP is practical, industry driven, and reflective of Malaysia’s unique gold ecosystem. This Working Group is expected to be established within the next three months.
Designed to promote fairness, trust, transparency, and sustainability through collective responsibility rather than regulatory mandate, the MGIP will be officially launched at the Malaysia Gold Conference 2026, from Feb 2-3, 2026.
