VietNamNet Bridge - After many delays, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has decided that from 2018, it will not set floor marks, or minimum required standards, on students applying for universities. 

Increasing the localization ratio and reducing production costs are vital issues for Vietnam’s automobile industry. As Vietnam is one of the worlds’s largest tungsten producers, it could be material that could help revive the auto industry. 

 After years of trying, Vietnam’s first pilot development of a public-private partnership transport project is at an impasse, making future ventures down this road uncertain for foreign investors until the issuance of a relevant law.

VietNamNet Bridge - The massive development of resort projects in coastal areas has led to a breakdown in tourism planning, affecting marine resources and the environment, as well as the security of tourism destinations.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Xam (blind busker’s singing) is on the way to revitalisation in the northern port city of Hai Phong since more and more local people and tourists are coming to admire the traditional musical art.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Friend or foe? What was once deemed the enemy of the farmer, seems to have been given a reprieve as clever growers have thought up ways to welcome saline water.

 One of transport sector’s current goals is to develop waterway transport to reduce pressure on road transport. Hoang Hong Giang, Director of Inland Waterway Department, talks about strategies for developing the sector.

The Vietnam Economic Times interviewed Chairman of the State Securities Commission, Tran Van Dung just prior to the April 16-20 Investment Promotion Conference in South Korea.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Duong Dong, the largest river that supplies water for Phu Quoc Island in southern Kien Giang Province, is polluted with garbage and waste water.

 Events in Hanoi & HCMC on April 16-22 

 Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called for tough punishment for faking medicines and medicinal supplements which poses risks to human health.

 The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship will kick off in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 20.

 The annual Hung Kings Temple festival hosted by the northern midlands province of Phu Tho will be held from April 21-25 (6th to 10th day of the third lunar month) with an array of cultural festivities.

 The upcoming visit to Vietnam from April 19-20 by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to strengthen bilateral ties and tighten the Vietnam-Myanmar comprehensive cooperative partnership.

 Da Loc Commune protective coastal forest in Thanh Hoa Province has become a huge dumping site as large amounts of rubbish are being washed up on the beach. 

 A General Statistics Office of Vietnam economist Bui Trinh has opposed the Ministry of Finance's proposal to impose a tax on houses valued from VND700m (USD30,700).    

 Pupils of different grades in a mountainous commune of Thanh Hoa Province have to sit in the same classroom due to a shortage of classrooms.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Mekong Delta Province of Ca Mau on Tuesday launched an inspection of arbitrary seafood farming and planting activities on its island.

 A primary school teacher in Hanoi has been arrested after being accused of sexually abusing nine third-grade pupils.  

 Vietnamese start-ups have invested US$129 million in fintech and the industry is forecast to continuously attract heightened investor interest next time, according to the Ernst & Young (EY) ASEAN FinTech Census 2018.