On August 11, records on some diamond trading routes in Ho Chi Minh City such as An Duong Vuong, Nguyen Trai, Le Thanh Ton... showed that, besides stores that are still open and operating normally, many stores continue to be closed or temporarily suspended.
Some locations do not have transaction staff, customers who come have to return or wait for information about when the store will reopen. Meanwhile, in stores that are still open, trading activities mainly take place on a small scale, and transaction customers are only sparse.
Notably, some stores, although previously announced that they would welcome customers back from the beginning of August, are still closed. Roll doors are closed, there are no staff or customers transacting. Some places post notices of temporary business suspension until a new notice is issued, while some stores do not have information about the time to reopen.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Gem and Jewelry Association said: "According to the association's survey, so far more than 40 businesses have temporarily closed down. However, these are only data recorded at the time of the survey. Businesses said they will continue to reopen business, but the specific time has not been determined.
According to Mr. Dung, in fact, there are still diamond business stores operating normally. The businesses that temporarily closed are mainly units that previously had large-scale trading and a large number of customers, so they were more affected and worried after recent information. Some customers who brought diamonds to sell or exchange them also have a cautious mentality.
Meanwhile, small-scale stores, buying and selling diamonds and jewelry at a normal level, are less affected. Customers at these stores can still come to buy and sell, exchange as before.
Notably, by the end of July, only about 30 diamond businesses in the area temporarily stopped operating, but now this number has increased to more than 40 businesses. This development shows that diamond business activities in Ho Chi Minh City are still being affected, in which some businesses with large transaction scale choose to temporarily close down to wait for a more stable situation.
