The Da Nang Innovation and Startup Support Center (DISSC), the city's public agency for startups, signed a memorandum of understanding with FUTA Land on Monday, October 12, at FUTA Residence on Võ Nguyên Giáp Street, Báo Đầu tư reported. FUTA Land is the real estate company of Phương Trang–FUTA Group, best known for its intercity buses.

A representative of the Solana Foundation, the Swiss nonprofit that supports the Solana blockchain, attended. The report does not name the representative or describe the foundation as a party to the agreement. It lists only FUTA Land and DISSC as signatories.

What the two sides agreed

The memorandum sets out three areas of cooperation, according to Báo Đầu tư:

  • Connecting investment funds, financial institutions, strategic investors and international partners with FUTA Land's projects. The company says it holds more than 30 projects covering thousands of hectares.
  • Building services for foreign businesses, experts and investors who work or live in Da Nang.
  • Researching digital finance, blockchain and real estate management technology. The report names three ideas: digitizing property transactions, making asset management more transparent, and exploring the "digitization of economic rights" tied to real estate.

The report says the research ideas must first be assessed for feasibility, economic efficiency and compliance with Vietnamese law. No investment amounts, timelines or deliverables were published. A memorandum of understanding is a statement of intent, not a contract.

What isn't known yet

As of Monday evening, neither DISSC's website nor FUTA Land's had posted the signing, and we found no statement from the Solana Foundation. The names of the people who signed haven't been published. A photo caption in the report identifies FUTA Land deputy general director Nguyễn Văn Đức as a speaker. It is not clear whether any blockchain work would use Solana's network.

A busy fortnight for the startup center

This is DISSC's second memorandum in four days. On October 9 it signed one with GIMA Group, a company headquartered in Newport Beach, California, that works in blockchain, gaming, esports, virtual reality and education technology. That agreement covers introducing Da Nang startups to international investors, promoting the city's startup scene abroad, and running events and training. It also has no published figures.

On October 1, FUTA Land, DISSC and the platform oBacker co-hosted a forum for foreign businesses entering Vietnam. Báo Đà Nẵng reported nearly 300 attendees.

Why it matters

Da Nang is drafting a citywide plan, "Promoting the application and development of blockchain technology to 2030." In March, the Department of Science and Technology held a consultation on it and said the aim was better data governance and information verification, "not chasing technology trends." Partnerships like this one show where the city's startup agency is looking for investment. They will matter more if they produce funded projects or products, which so far they have not announced.

Sources

This story was compiled by the Da Nang Voice news desk from the published sources listed above. Facts, figures and quotes are attributed to those sources; Da Nang Voice did not conduct interviews for it unless the text says so. Corrections are dated and noted at the top of the story. Read our corrections policy. Spotted an error? Tell us.