Recently, gold prices have continuously climbed and set new records, causing the domestic market to fall into a state of unprecedented tension. The large gap between international and domestic gold prices, along with the psychology of finding a safe haven in the face of economic fluctuations, has caused the demand for gold to increase sharply. In that context, analysts said that both the market and businesses are facing significant risks and challenges as limited supply and growing demand.
Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu - Director of the Institute for Research and Development of Global Financial and Real Estate Markets - commented that in the world, gold prices are fluctuating strongly due to macroeconomic factors such as high inflation in the US, unstable growth and uncertainty in operating policies. These factors make gold always be considered a safe haven.
He further analyzed: The international gold price has exceeded 4,000 USD/ounce and according to my assessment, it is completely possible to return to the 4,200 USD/ounce zone by the end of the year. Although Vietnam is not completely connected to international gold prices, it is still affected very strongly, leading to unusual fluctuations in the country".
According to Mr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, in the past year, world gold prices have increased by about 56%, while domestic gold prices have increased by 80%. He said: "It is not difficult to understand when people switch from real estate, stocks or savings to gold, because real estate requires large capital, stocks require knowledge and risk, and bank deposit interest rates are difficult to compete with the profits of gold in the past time. Therefore, we must recognize that the people's need to accumulate and invest in gold is legitimate".
From the business perspective, Mr. Vu Hung Son - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bao Tin Manh Hai Jewelry Joint Stock Company - said that the Vietnamese gold market is going through a period of many fluctuations when both people and businesses are facing unprecedented obstacles. According to him, the situation of queuing to buy gold only reflects the flood of difficulties, behind which is the prolonged shortage of official raw material supply for more than 13 months.
"Because they cannot access imported gold according to a clear mechanism, businesses are forced to use floating gold sources, accept risks to maintain production and have goods to supply the market. As a result, limited supply pushes up domestic gold prices, while people have difficulty or cannot buy," said Mr. Son.
Mr. Son added that to maintain business operations, businesses must increase their buying prices to encourage those holding gold to sell. In the context of limited supply, limiting each customer to only buy a few is an unforgettable solution to avoid the situation where large investors hoard goods, causing small customers to no longer have access. The entire store system even had to invest in modern spectrum machines to check the quality of gold, instead of relying only on manual experience as before.
According to him, this is a worrying paradox for a profession with a very high added value. Gold jewelry - a field with strong cultural elements - currently has about 6,800 licensed establishments operating nationwide, creating jobs for a large workforce, especially in large enterprises with 6,000 - 7,000 people. However, the industry is still under increasing pressure from the legal framework.
From the perspective of industry development, Mr. Son proposed to remove gold jewelry from the list of business lines with conditions in the Investment Law. According to him, jewelry is a consumer product, not affecting security - defense and expanding conditions will create momentum for Vietnam to become a jewelry processing center in the region.
