The view was shared by Nguyen Phu Dung, CEO of Pila Group JSC, which is working with Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security on the development of NDAChain, the country’s national blockchain platform.

Dung made the remarks at Ho Chi Minh City’s technology event Conviction 2026, held on August 14-15.

Notably, on June 23, Pila and the National Data Association successfully defended the NDAChain platform before an inter-ministerial appraisal council involving the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Finance.

Dung said Vietnam’s legal discussions are increasingly focused on digital and crypto assets.

Unlike conventional assets, these forms of value operate in a new environment - a “digital space” rather than a physical one.

Vietnam, however, has yet to establish a comprehensive definition of digital space or a digital nation, as well as how such an environment should be governed from a legal perspective.

At the same time, the country has already established important legal foundations.

The Law on Electronic Transactions has been enacted and taken effect, while the draft Law on Digital Identification and Authentication would provide for recognizing the identities of people, objects, assets and other entities in the online environment, as well as authenticating the legal validity associated with those entities.

The Law on Electronic Transactions also provides a foundation for recognizing lawful transactions conducted digitally.

According to Dung, as these legal frameworks continue to be completed, Vietnam could establish a new space - effectively a “digital border.”

Such an environment could make it possible to bring blockchain businesses currently based overseas and digital assets back to Vietnam, something stakeholders have been seeking ways to achieve under current conditions.

Dung said data lies at the heart of any digital space.

Vietnam already possesses vast amounts of data, but the challenge is that such data cannot always be considered trustworthy.

As Pila works with the Ministry of Public Security to develop the national blockchain platform, the company wants to help establish a national trust platform that can serve as a foundational infrastructure layer.

Other layers involving finance, assets, transactions and broader digital economic activity could then be protected within a secure, trusted and transparent environment.

Dung said the value chain of a digital economy consists of three layers: trusted data, trusted finance and a trusted economy.

These three layers could help more clearly define the structure of Vietnam’s digital space.

At the technical level, this would mean trusted digital infrastructure. At the financial level, it would mean a trusted digital finance layer. Economic activities could then develop on top of these foundations, ultimately creating a genuine digital economy.

Dung also proposed establishing an alliance among the state, research and academic institutions, and businesses to jointly develop a sovereign data governance framework, supported by self-sovereign identity and relevant technical standards.

The concept is not new and has already been implemented in a number of countries around the world.

Second, he said national trust infrastructure should become shared infrastructure, creating a foundation on which businesses and application layers can develop across sectors including finance, logistics, healthcare and education.

Vietnam should avoid a scenario in which each organization continues building its own isolated “island of trust,” complete with separate standards and infrastructure.

Such fragmentation would lead to high integration costs and make data interoperability difficult.

Instead, Vietnam needs interoperable trust infrastructure capable of generating network effects across the economy.

Third, the issue extends beyond Vietnam.

The draft ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, expected to be signed in November this year, is opening prospects for a Southeast Asian digital economy worth more than $2 trillion.

That development requires countries to establish trusted infrastructure capable of interoperating across national borders.

In such an environment, digital identities could be authenticated across borders, digital evidence could be verified internationally, and data could provide the foundation for the creation of different types of digital assets.

“Ultimately, digital assets only have real value when they are built on a foundation of trusted data,” Dung said.

Le My