VNL1 will build Vietnam’s national product traceability blockchain with USD 8 million in committed capital. A concurrent framework agreement covers five additional projects spanning fintech, tourism, commodities, AI compute, and a mixed-use financial district.
SINGAPORE and HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Embed Financial Group Holdings Pte Ltd (“EFGH”) and Digital Asset Protection HHP High-Tech Center JSC (“DAP HHP High-Tech Center”) signed two agreements today to form a joint-venture to build VNL1, a national blockchain infrastructure platform for Vietnam, and forge a comprehensive partnership to develop five other related national-scale digital projects.
From left: Nguyễn Hữu Hùng, Chairman, Digital Asset Protection HHP High-Tech Center JSC; Nguyễn Thanh Hải, CEO, Digital Asset Protection HHP High-Tech Center JSC and CEO of the joint venture; Dennis Ng, Executive Chairman, Embed Financial Group Holdings (EFGH); Chia Hock Lai, Asia CEO, EFGH; and Sonny Tran, Vietnam CEO, EFGH, at the signing ceremony held at Hotel Nikko Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City on 17 April 2026.
The agreements were signed in Ho Chi Minh City by Dennis Ng, Executive Chairman of Singapore-headquartered EFGH, DAP HHP High-Tech Center’s Chairman Nguyễn Hữu Hùng and its CEO, Nguyễn Thanh Hả, who will also serve as the CEO of the joint-venture company.
THE JOINT VENTURE
The partners will form a JV company, VNL1 Co., Ltd., to build and operate VNL1 – a landmark project intended to support Vietnam’s Draft Decree on the Identification, Authentication, and Traceability of Products and Goods. The decree mandates a national blockchain platform to be operational by 1 April 2027 and overseen by the Ministry of Public Security.
VNL1 will address a major counterfeiting problem faced by the manufacturing and food sectors in particular. Vietnam’s National Assembly’s Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs estimates that production and trading of counterfeit goods rose by over 47 percent last year.
Regulatory responsibility is currently split across five ministries with no unified data layer. VNL1 will be established as a Layer 2 blockchain settling on Ethereum that targets 1,000+ transactions per second at no more than USD 0.01 each, hosted on Vietnam-domiciled infrastructure. It will support two key platforms.
V-TRUST will generate GS1-compatible unique product codes and log custody transfers using government-issued digital identifiers, giving regulators and consumers a tamper-evident provenance record verifiable by QR or NFC scan.
V-STABLE will complement V-TRUST by serving as the sovereign settlement rail for Vietnam’s emerging “finternet.” Designed as a fully compliant digital token backed by the Vietnamese Dong, with reserves held exclusively in State Bank of Vietnam-approved instruments, V-STABLE will enable instant, regulated, and low-cost financial settlement across the digital economy while preserving national monetary sovereignty. While reserve yields may organically offset VNL1’s operating costs, its primary role is to underpin trusted, real-time settlement at scale.
The JV company will be incorporated within 90 days with a committed capital of approximately USD 8 million. EFGH will contribute technology covering the blockchain stack while DAP HHP High-Tech Center will support in areas of regulatory licences and government relationships.
THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
Signed concurrently today, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Framework Agreement (“Framework Agreement”) establishes the legal and commercial architecture governing how the two companies will develop and execute six projects in total, including VNL1. The remaining five each carry a binding governance structure and a contractual 180-day deadline, running from 17 April 2026, within which project-level Statements of Work (“SOWs”) must be negotiated and executed.
Together, they span the full infrastructure stack of a digital economy: blockchain-based trust and settlement, embedded financial services, tourism infrastructure, commodity pricing, AI compute, and a mixed-use financial district in Ho Chi Minh City.
The five projects other than VLN1 are:
- V-Fintech – an Advanced embedded fintech platform covering supply chain finance, embedded and parametric insurance, real-world asset tokenisation, digital treasury, cross-border payments, and AI-powered credit intelligence.
- V-TOK – A modular tourist kiosk platform designed for domestic deployment in Vietnam and international export.
- V-ICEX – A national financial infrastructure platform for commodity pricing and market transparency.
- GDCAI – A next-generation, sustainably powered data centre and AI compute network across Vietnam’s key technology corridors.
- V-FIT – A mixed-use fintech, academic, and real estate platform within Ho Chi Minh City’s International Financial Centre.
Both parties will establish a Joint Steering Committee (“JSC”) within 30 days of signing, comprising at least one C-suite executive from each side. The JSC will meet quarterly to oversee project progress, review SOW negotiations, and coordinate execution across all six workstreams. The Framework Agreement will run for an initial term of three years, renewed annually thereafter.
SIGNIFICANCE OF VIETNAM PARTNERSHIP FOR EFGH
The two agreements today jointly constitute EFGH’s first business venture in Vietnam, and the first in Asia at national scale. It will catalyse other financial internet (“finternet”) projects in the region and Africa, where EFGH is also present. EFGH has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with a U.S.-listed special purpose acquisition company at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately USD 425 million.
STATEMENTS
“Vietnam is not a single project for EFGH — it is a platform. VNL1 is purpose-built to meet the April 2027 mandate, and we are committed — in capital, in technology, and in execution — to making that deadline. The joint venture is the first proof point. The framework is the full picture.”
— Dennis Ng, Executive Chairman, Embed Financial Group Holdings Pte. Ltd.
“Six workstreams. One partnership. Center CNC HHP has the government access, the infrastructure, and the operational presence in Vietnam that each of these projects requires. We signed these agreements because we intend to build all of them.”
— Nguyễn Thanh Hải, CEO, and Trung Tâm Công Nghệ Cao Tài Sản Số (DAP HHP HighTech Center)
