By David Levenstein: While gold demand in China is up 40% this year, gold demand in Vietnam is also set to increase. The government devalued its dong last week in order to boost exports and shore up the nation's trade deficit. Local gold prices jumped to a record 29.95 million dong per tael on Aug. 25, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported recently referring to the unit that is about 1.2 ounces.

"People will switch to gold as a shelter," said Le Xuan Nghia, vice chairman of the National Financial Supervision Commission, which advises Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. "The current situation with the dong will spur people to increase their gold holdings."

"The dong's depreciation, which has been about 5 percent already this year, plus declines in stocks and uncertainty in the property market, will prompt investors to put their money in gold," said Dinh Nho Bang, chairman of Vietnam Gold Traders' Association, which has more than 100 members. "We've seen some economic growth, but it's still not certain enough."

As I have mentioned numerous times in the last few years, the debasement of currencies have been and will remain the main driving force behind the strong gold prices. But there are a slew of reasons why the gold price is poised to move higher over the coming months and years for that matter......read in full