Many gold shops in Ho Chi Minh City erected signs of temporary closure following the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance’s large-scale inspection into gold shops in various localities.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper found that plenty of gold shops in the An Dong Market area in District 5 and the Thiec Market area in District 11 had closed on Monday. Some hung signs announcing their closure for weeks.

As a case in point, K.H.N., a gold shop on Nguyen Duy Duong Street in District 5, announced that it would stay closed from April 1 to 18. The D.T. gold shop next door also closed its doors.

A series of other large gold shops, including one at 87-89 Nguyen Duy Duong Street and two nearby shops, N.T. and N.T.L., on the street also shut down on Monday, said Q., a local resident.

Nguyen Duy Duong Street is a gold trade hotspot in Ho Chi Minh City.

The same scene was seen in the Thiec Market area, with gold shops closing in droves.

The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance has launched an inspection into many gold shops in different localities and detected violations.

The owner of a gold shop in District 5 said gold shops closed temporarily to avoid inspections as they are sure that inspectors will find their violations. Two typical violations are selling products mimicking those of popular global brands, such as Chanel, Cartier, LV, and Bulgari, and failing to prove the origin of products.

Once their violations are detected, they may face a fine of hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong (VND100 million = US$3,944) each and have their products seized. As a result, gold shops responded to the inspection wave with such temporary shutdowns.

Besides inspecting bricks-and-mortar gold shops, a team in charge of e-commerce under the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance has kept a close watch on the online sale of gold.

The market surveillance agency in Ho Chi Minh City has also inspected multiple local gold shops and detected many products without clear origins and invoices as well as products imitating those of well-known brands.

The prime minister had previously required strengthening the management of the local gold market. He asked the State Bank of Vietnam to keep a close watch on international and domestic gold prices and take measures to regulate the gold market.

Domestic gold prices have repeatedly set new records.

The prices were above VND80 million ($3,155) per tael for both buying and selling on Monday. A tael equals 1.2 troy ounces.

Vietnam’s gold prices were around VND12 million ($474.5) higher than the world’s average. 

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!