CEO of blockchain technology platform company Vuong Minh Long (Photo: khoinghiep.org.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite being seen as a potential blockchaindevelopment nation, Vietnam lacks a proper legal framework which may preventthe country maximise benefits from the emerging industry.
Vietnamese business man Vuong Quang Long runsTomochain but is headquartered in Singapore because he said the governmentthere has better policies to attract international investment.
“When it came to initial coin offering (ICO),Tomochain needed lawyers understanding the country where the company isheadquartered and registered. We could not find that in Vietnam,” Longtold baodautu.vn.
He said he expects Vietnam to soon develop a legalframework that allows local firms to draw foreign investment and develop theirbusiness.
Long suggested government agencies recognise thevaluation of digital assets, set up a cross-sector committee to track thedevelopment of the industry and issue policies on the establishment of aninvestment pool.
A large number of Vietnamese people are not fullyaware of blockchain and crytocurrency bitcoin and often mistake them, accordingto Nguyen Van Vung, founder of tech firm Bigbom.
Blockchain tech experts said the use of technologycould help users save 30-50 percent of their expenses as those apps would helpthem improve the quality of production and transparency in finance andmanagement.
For example, if Uber and its partner drivers runthe app on blockchain technologies, it would be easier for regulators tomonitor the market and the information of both drivers and trips would be moretransparent.
QNET is developing a system to manage lendingportfolios for commercial banks, according to the firm’s head of blockchaindevelopment centre Dang Minh Tuan.
“When developing the programme, we have to makesure each portfolio is unique, and no one is authorised to edit the profile,”Tuan said.
“So the banking system’s transparency isguaranteed and it minimises the chance of risks such as a lending profile isused at different banks or a banker can switch the profile for one another forillegal transactions.”
But there is plenty of room for the industry inother countries to further develop, even though applications are still in theearly stage. Japan issued a law on payment services, which was amended in 2016,saying digital currencies are considered payment instruments for necessities,not large-scale deals.
That may be the reasons why Vietnamese lawmakershave remained hesitant developing a legal framework that suits the needs of thecompanies using blockchain technologies and applications.
Nguyen Thanh Tu, Director of the Economic andCivil Legislation at the Ministry of Justice, said the ministry starteddeveloping a regulation on cryptocurrency management in 2016-2017. The ministryis reviewing all digital assets and legal practices to propose the bestsolutions to the Prime Minister.
Long at Tomochain said the issue of digital assetswas determined by the market, not the regulator. This is a trend and if Vietnamfully develops its own legal framework to support blockchain firms, theindustry will grow strongly and attract big support from the private sector inboth local and international markets.-VNS/VNA
