Vietnam eyes national gold exchange to boost market transparency

Deputy Governor of the central bank Pham Tien Dung revealed the plan during a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, organized to gather input from banks, gold trading enterprises, and economic experts on the proposed exchange.

He said that the initiative followed the directive of Party General Secretary To Lam on enhancing the effectiveness of gold market mechanisms and policies.

In response, the government issued Decree 232 on August 26, amending and supplementing Decree 24 on gold trading management.

Besides, the SBV issued Circular No. 34 to provide detailed guidance on implementing the two decrees, forming a legal foundation for gold import, production, and trading.

Building on this legal framework, the establishment of a national gold exchange is seen as a strategic move to unlock gold reserves held by the public, bring greater transparency to gold transactions, and reduce uncontrolled over-the-counter trading.

“The central bank has received instructions to submit a draft resolution piloting the gold exchange in October,” he said.

Dao Xuan Tuan, head of the SBV Foreign Exchange Management Department, noted that the Vietnamese public has long had a habit of storing gold.

As such, the proposed gold exchange aims to tap into the domestic gold resource and convert their holdings into productive investment capital.

Through the exchange, both individuals and businesses would be able to trade gold more transparently and convert it into cash for business and production activities.

As for the model of the proposed exchange, Tuan outlined a three-phase implementation plan, with the first phase focusing on transactions involving imported raw gold.

The second phase will expand to include both imported raw gold and gold bullion.

During the third phase, a fully centralized and modern gold exchange aligned with international standards will be established.

This phase would accommodate trading of imported raw gold, bullion, domestically circulated gold, gold certificates, and derivatives.

“During the initial phase, the gold exchange will bring full transparency to how imported gold is bought, sold, and used in production," said Deputy Governor Dung.

“Once this is functioning effectively, we will allow bullion produced by licensed entities, currently around 16 or 17, to be traded on the exchange.

“Eventually, we aim to introduce gold derivatives to the exchange."