Vietnamese remain keen on gold

Despite stock, Bitcoin boom, Vietnamese investors are still interested in gold, according to the World Gold Council.

Local individual investors’ demand for gold would climb when the pandemic is controlled, the vaccination rate increases and economic growth becomes more stable, Andrew Naylor, the WGC’s CEO for the Asia-Pacific (excluding China), said.

A report titled ‘Gold Demand Trends Q3, 2021’ it released recently said consumption of both jewelry gold and gold bars and coins halved year-on-year in the third quarter to one ton and two tons.

He said gold sales in Vietnam were affected mainly by social distancing imposed to battle Covid-19.

He hoped Vietnam would establish an electronic trading floor for gold investors.

Many Vietnamese are interested in buying gold online, and could buy small quantities of gold rings or coins every month instead of a large quantity at one time, he said.

However, other investment options such as stocks and cryptocurrencies are more attractive than gold now.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index downed 0.56 percent to 1,444.3 Wednesday after reaching a new peak Tuesday. Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose nearly 50 percent to VND43.21 trillion.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin surged to over $63,000 on Nov. 2, up from $43,000 on Oct. 1.

Vietnamese have recently tended to invest more in high-risk asset classes, but remain interested in gold, while conservative investors always consider gold a safe investment, Naylor said.

Real estate remains an attractive option though the market has slowed down amid the Covid outbreaks.