Digital Biz

The Vietnam Blockchain Union (VBU), under the Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA), has been established, to connect organizations and individuals to research, apply, invest, and develop policies on blockchain. It will prioritize developing Vietnam’s blockchain community, policy consulting activities, technological research, communications, resource training, and startup support.

Novaon Capital - the first investment fund to apply AI technology in Vietnam - has announced a strategic cooperation arrangement with FPT Capital - a professional fund management company with major assets - to provide digital financial investment solutions using AI technology. The arrangement is expected to bring positive changes to the digital finance industry and promote digital finance in Vietnam’s investor community.

Vietnam-based healthcare startup Jio Health has completed a $20 million Series B funding round led by the Singapore-based investment fund Heritas Capital. The capital will help it boost its ability to provide medical examination and treatment services to more people and on a larger scale.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) will issue a plan to support and promote digital transformation and non-cash payments in schools and hospitals. Half of all schools, educational institutions, hospitals, and medical facilities are to start using digital platforms for non-cash payments this year.

With 53 million digital consumers and seven out of ten consumers having digital access, Vietnam is among the fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia. The total value of e-commerce purchases is expected to reach $56 billion by 2026, an increase of 4.5-fold compared to 2021. The e-commerce sector grew 53 per cent last year.

An inter-ministerial working group has been established to prepare for the operation of the Vietnam Free Trade Agreement Portal (FTAP). The portal has been researched and built since March 2019, with technical support from the Australian Government and management from the World Bank (WB). It is expected that the FTAP will soon be handed over from the WB to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) for operations, upgrading, and development.