Firms suffer as Y-generation employees change jobs regularlyVietNamNet Bridge - Millennials, born from 1980 to 1996, are generally well-educated, skilled and confident workers who are often staying at one job for an average of only two to three years. Y-generation employees change jobs regularlyNguyen Phuong Mai, CEO of Navigos Search, said recruitment demand has been increasing steadily in the last few years. The strong point of Y-generation workers is that they are eager to lear and willing to improve. In its report released in March, Anphabe also warned about the high percentage of Y-generation workers changing their jobs regularly. Businesses will not be able to retain and develop talent and workers will suffer from their decisions to change jobs.

Apps scan and collect Facebook user information for saleVietNamNet Bridge - Telephone numbers, emails and addresses of millions of Vietnamese Facebookers can be bought easily. The information for sale includes names, telephone numbers, emails, residential addresses and hobbies/interests of Facebookers. Phan Van Hoi from a big media company in Hanoi said that Facebookers’ information is no longer private”. Hoi said dozens of apps have been developed to scan Facebook User IDs (UID) and get information. From UID, scan tools allow access to the database to get the information about names, telephone numbers, dates of births, residential addresses and friends list.

Ignoring protests, Finance Ministry raises environmental tax on petrol productsVietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is compiling the amended Environment Protection Tax Law. MOF plans to raise environmental tax on petrol productsThe proposal to amend the Environmental Protection Tax Law has faced strong opposition over the last two years when the draft law was opened for public opinion. MOF said 40 ministries and branches agree with the draft resolution on changing the environmental protection tax rates. The tax rate on air fuel, VND3,000 per liter, the highest rate in the tax framework, will remain unchanged. RELATED NEWSEnvironmental protection tax opposed by some economistsEnvironmental tax should help environmentM. Ha

State-owned firms’ divestment from banks proceeds slowlyVietNamNet Bridge - As the stock market has bounced back, state-owned corporations are speeding up divestment from banks, but the process has been slower than anticipated. The high price of NVB as welcomed by the bank’s shareholders, including Vinatex, which is still holding 6.9 million NVB. Vinatex has been trying to divest from NVB in the last decade, but it failed because the price of NVB, like other banks’ shares, was below the break-even point. PetroVietnam, the national oil and gas group, for example, invested VND800 billion in Ocean Bank, to buy 20 percent of the bank’s shares. The remaining capital will continue to be withdrawn as Vietcombank plans to organize another bank share auction on April 17.

Who rules Vietnam’s coffee market? VietNamNet Bridge - The domestic coffee market in the past was controlled by big players Trung Nguyen, Nestcafe and Vinacafe. Vietnam is a big coffee exporterIn 2013, the market began heating up with the arrival of Starbucks and other coffee chains, including South Korea’s Coffee Bene, the US’s PJ’s Coffee and Vietnam’s The Coffee House, Trung Nguyen, Highlands, Phuc Long and Passio. ‘Laymen’ also grow coffeeThe Coffee House, a coffee chain brand, in early 2018 unexpectedly announced the purchase of farms, storehouses and roasters to start growing coffee trees in Da Lat. According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, Vietnam has over 150 coffee export companies and 3,000 coffee collectors, but only one-third of enterprises have coffee bean processing factories that make products for export.

Self-made bank changing the lives of local womenVietNamNet Bridge – Local women in a small town in Soc Trang Province are working together to escape poverty. A special interest free loan from a local collective bank is responsible for bringing hope into the lives of these disadvantaged farmers. Dao Thi Dau (left) with her fresh fruit stall, which was purchased using a loan from the special bank. — Photo tuoitre.vnThe bank is worth the small sum of just a few million dong, which the local women contribute to each month. Just a small sum of money has helped change the lives of many local women in Dai Ngai Town.

Vietnam is spending more money on tourism promotionThe tourism sector will have a large budget of VND400-500 billion to carry out marketing activities. These are just two of a series of tourism promotion programs that VNAT will run this year. Tourism promotion will be accelerated in the time to come thanks to a bigger budget from the Tourism Development Supporting Fund. Meanwhile, Thailand, which receives 32.5 million foreign tourists a year, spends $69 million on tourism promotion. RELATED NEWSPromoting tourism – Lever to develop Vietnam tourism industryFund to boost Vietnam tourism developmentThanh Mai

Young students make head motion wheelchairs practicalVietNamNet Bridge – Wheelchairs controlled by head motion may bring new hope to people with disabilities in Vietnam. Dat and Khanh try using the head motion wheelchair. Their project competed against hundreds of others and received first prize in the 2018 National Science and Technology Competition for high school students in the northern region. Although a head motion wheelchair is not a new innovation in the world, its high cost is a real obstruction to Vietnamese people with disabilities. Not only the Bac Ninh high school students, a group of students from the HCM City University of Transportation were also inspired to make a wheelchair for people without limbs.

The predicted global recession: will Vietnam prepare for such a scenario? VietNamNet Bridge - Jim Rogers, the co-founder of Quantum Fund, a familiar name in investors’ circles, has predicted an eventual global recession. Vietnam began cutting unnecessary business conditions in 1999, but more and more new business conditions continued. An analyst estimated that there were 400 business conditions in the past, while the figure is now 5,700. RELATED NEWSVietnam surpasses 2017 GDP target aided by global strengthVietnam facing challenges ahead as GDP growth uncertain in 2018Mai Thanh

Phu Quoc struggles to control land speculationWhat comes to mind when you think of Phu Quoc Island? Dozens of hectares of agricultural land have been divided illegally for sale in Cua Duong Town on Phu Quoc Island. On average, Phu Quoc Island discharges more than 150 tonnes of waste per day. In the face of such development, Phu Quoc authorities have urged people to carefully consider their decision to buy land. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has asked the Government Inspectorate to improve inspection of management and use of agricultural land on Phu Quoc.

Defeating South Korea a must for World Cup berthMoving on from their two huge defeats in the Asian Women’s Cup, the Vietnamese players are positive for their last Group B match against South Korea today in Amman, Jordan. Vietnamese players in a training for the clash against South Korea yesterday. Although their previous defeats eliminated them from the final four, they can still reach the playoffs for the fifth place and earn a ticket to FIFA Women’s World Cup if they defeat South Korea, who are world No 16. Speaking about their rivals, Chung said the South Koreans were a team of physical players, who also owned good technique. In today’s match, Chung will welcome back his key midfielder Chuong Thi Kieu, who is expected to strengthen his defence.

Vietnamese firms brace for Industry 4.0Updating technology and revamping administration are crucial for the existence and development of Vietnamese businesses amidst the fourth industrial revolution, experts said at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on April 12. The experts agreed that the industrial revolution has directly impacted Vietnam’s economy, especially enterprises. Le Hoai Quoc, head of the management board of the Saigon High-teach Park (SHTP), said the revolution generates both opportunities and challenges for local firms. Highlighting the efficiency of new technology in production, Nhon said after revamping production technology, ICC needs only 50 workers compared with 150 in the past, with output up three-fold. They suggested employing more labourers with high skills, encouraging foreign firms to participate in the local supply chain and promoting innovation.-VNA

Two jailed for anti-State attemptThe People’s Court in the central province of Ha Tinh on April 12 handed down a jail term of nine years, which will be followed by another five-year probation, to Tran Thi Xuan for attempt to overthrow the people’s administration. With her position, and instructions and support from foreign and domestic reactionary organisations, Xuan increasingly demonstrated her attempt to oppose and overthrow the Government. Xuan’s acts were said to "attempt to overthrow the people’s administration" under Clause 1, Article 79 of the 1999 Penal Code. Releasing from prison, Dung used social networks to collude with extremists and reactionaries to write articles, post photos that distort the truth about the country and destroy the peaceful life of countrymen. From April 30, 2017 to May 19, 2017, Dung used his own Facebook page to post numerous articles with contents containing wrong information about the Party and State’s policies, defame the Government, and distort the national history.

Trump to reconsider joining TPP trade pactUS President Donald Trump has said he will only join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) if the deal is "substantially better" than the one offered to President Barack Obama. The TPP is the free trade pact with primarily Asia-Pacific nations that Mr Trump backed out of last year. Just hours earlier, Mr Trump had unexpectedly said the US would consider rejoining the pact. Mr Trump's Democratic rival in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, also came out against the agreement during the campaign. Mr Trump ordered his staff to evaluate rejoining "on our terms", according to accounts from the meeting.

New individual of world’s rarest turtle found in HanoiAn additional individual of the Swinhoe's Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), the world’s most endangered turtle species, has been found at Xuan Khanh Lake on the outskirts of Hanoi, thanks to the efforts from the Asian Turtle Programme (ATP) of Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), a UK based conservation charity. In January 2016 a large male Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle that had lived in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake passed away. This ancient animal was the last surviving individual of the species in the lake and was possibly over 100 years old. A photograph of the Swinhoe's Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) that was rescued following a dam break in Dong Mo Lake, Hanoi in 2008. The photo is clearly a large softshell turtle, similar in general appearance to a Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle, but again was not enough to confirm the species.