Speaking at the forum “Vietnam gold market: opportunities and challenges in the new phase” on November 24, Nguyen Duc Kien, National Assembly delegate and former head of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory team, said the gap between domestic and global gold prices needs to be further clarified.

“Why is there sometimes a difference of up to VND20 million per tael between domestic and global prices? In reality, after deducting taxes, fees, and processing costs, how much is the actual difference? No one has calculated it clearly,” Kien said.

According to Kien, the gold market needs to operate under market mechanisms, meaning there must be supply and demand, and these two factors need to be harmonized.

The current problem is the need to further refine the legal basis, as most of the information regarding gold price volatility in society and the market lacks transparency, causing public confusion, which is why people are rushing to buy gold.

"Decree 232 requires explaining buyer information to clarify why people are queuing up all night to buy gold. Ultimately, are the people queuing to buy gold those with genuine demand or not?" Kien asked.

Amid strong price volatility and a large gap with global prices, the Government issued Decree 232/2025 amending Decree 24/2012 to perfect the legal framework for gold trading.

However, after more than a month of implementation, the market has not changed much: people continue lining up to buy gold, some businesses face supply shortages, and the price gap remains high.

Vu Hung Son, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Gold Trading Association, affirmed that  while global gold prices have risen 62 percent since early this year, domestic prices have risen by 84 percent. 

But according to Son, the situation of queuing to buy gold is only the tip of the iceberg; the deeper cause is the prolonged shortage of official supply.

For the past 13 years, gold businesses have had no mechanism to access official gold raw materials, and are forced to use gold with unclear sources, accepting risks to maintain production and supply goods to the market.

"Limited supply also drives up domestic gold prices, and people find it difficult or impossible to buy. The entire system of stores has to invest in modern machinery to check gold quality, instead of relying solely on manual experience as before. This is a worrying paradox for a high value-added industry," Son said.

Gold import quota

Le Xuan Nghia, a member of the Prime Minister’s policy advisory council, said Vietnam spends about $11 billion each year importing cigars, foreign alcohol, and cosmetics. To import 50 tons of gold, it just has to pay $5 billion. 

He believes this level of foreign currency expenditure will not significantly impact the economy.

Therefore, he thinks that quotas may be used cautiously in the early stages, but in the long term, the central bank should expand import and export rights to qualified businesses and control smuggling through professional measures rather than restricting supply.

“Quotas are only a temporary fix. The ultimate goal is a transparent and fair market so low-income people do not have to buy gold at higher prices than foreigners,” he said.

He also suggested establishing an international-standard physical gold exchange (for imported raw gold). Importers would sell wholesale on the exchange, and businesses would buy for production or retail, with publicly referenced prices aligned with global rates.

“Announce the wholesale price on the exchange each day and people will know what retail prices should be,” Nghia said.

Nguyen Tien Minh, Deputy Director of Hanoi Tax Department, said the city currently has 844 gold trading businesses and 51 households engaged in gold and gemstone processing. Tax revenue from this sector increased from more than VND800 billion in 2024 to over VND1.211 trillion this year.

He added that although e-invoicing has made invoicing more convenient, inspections have found mistakes remain in VAT calculations and cost declarations related to raw gold.

Tax authorities, working with banking inspectors, also detected many suspicious transactions involving individuals with large sums of money. Investigations revealed signs of unlicensed or illegal gold trading and tax evasion, which have been transferred to the police for further investigation.

Duy Anh