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Tag: asia

  • Thailand expects to collect global minimum corporate tax from Jan 2025

    Thailand expects to collect global minimum corporate tax from Jan 2025

    Thailand expects to implement a global minimum corporate tax of 15% on multinational companies from January 2025, its finance minister said on Friday.

    The government will urgently issue a law on the tax collection, Pichai Chunhavajira said on a local television program. Pichai’s comments came after a Reuters report that the cabinet on Wednesday approved draft legislation to collect the global minimum corporate tax.

    Under new rules being shepherded by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a minimum 15% tax will be charged on multinationals with an annual global turnover of more than 750 million euros (US$784.58 million), regardless of their location.

    Thailand’s corporate tax is currently set at 20%, but companies receiving incentives from the Thailand Board of Investment can get an exemption of up to 13 years.

    Vietnam’s parliament approved the minimum global tax rate last year.

    Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Malaysia and Singapore have also said they will implement the minimum tax rate in 2025.

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  • Chinese kiwi prices in Vietnam start at $0.8/kg

    Chinese kiwi prices in Vietnam start at $0.8/kg

    Chinese green kiwi is being sold at VND20,000 (US$0.79) per kilogram onwards by wholesalers in Vietnam, a third of the prices of imports from Australia and New Zealand.

    Australian and New Zealand wholesale prices start at VND60,000 and go up to VND120,000. But the VND20,000 price is unusually low for a fruit considered an upmarket item in Vietnam.

    Thanh Hoa, a fruit wholesaler in HCMC, said these are the lowest prices in years. “I import thousands of boxes at a time to get the best prices.”

    Retailers are selling the fruit at VND50,000-80,000 per kilogram. In China, green kiwi is primarily grown in provinces with a temperate climate such as Sichuan, Shaanxi and Henan.

    Thanks to advanced breeding technologies and large scale of production, China is able to produce large quantities of the fruit and maintain low prices.

    Vietnamese importers say Chinese kiwi is able to enter Vietnam at current rates because logistic costs have been optimized.

    Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruits & Vegetables Association, said China has acquired kiwi varieties from other countries and breeds them with low labor costs.

    Vietnam’s imports of Chinese agriculture produce in the first 10 months were worth $800 million, a 24% increase year-on-year, according to the customs department. The main fruits it imported were apple, grape, persimmon, and kiwi.

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  • 45% of Singapore workers fear admitting to AI use

    45% of Singapore workers fear admitting to AI use

    Nearly half of employees in Singapore feel uncomfortable admitting to their managers that they use artificial intelligence (AI) in their jobs, a survey has found.

    The top concerns among these workers include the fear of being perceived as incompetent, lazy, or cheating, The Independent Singapore reported, citing AI-powered work management tool Slack’s Workforce Index report, which in August surveyed more than 17,000 workers across 15 countries, 1,008 of which are from Singapore.

    The report noted that workers, lacking clear guidance, are uncertain about when it is appropriate to use AI at work, leading many to hide their usage.

    Hence, employers should establish clear guidelines on which AI tools are considered “approved and trusted” for use in their organizations, as well as the specific tasks these tools are intended for, Christina Janzer, senior vice president of research and analytics at Slack.

    Too much of the burden today has been put on workers to figure out AI. It is important that leaders not only train workers to use AI, but encourage employees to talk about it and experiment with AI out in the open,” she said.

    Despite their concerns, 88% of employees in Singapore are keen to develop their AI skills and feel a pressing need to become experts in the field. However, 63% of them have spent fewer than five hours total learning how to use AI.

    Workers in the city-state are also prioritizing AI-enabled workplaces, with 87% viewing a company’s ability to provide and implement AI tools as a key consideration when searching for jobs.

    As a result, employers there must invest in AI training to attract and retain top talent.

    Globally, 30% of workers worldwide have not received any AI training, including self-guided learning or experimentation, according to Slack.

    Among those who did receive guidance on AI usage, adoption has increased by 13% since January, compared to just 2% for those without such training.

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  • Gold price gains in Vietnam, drops globally

    Gold price gains in Vietnam, drops globally

    Gold price went up marginally in Vietnam but fell globally as investors took profit Tuesday morning.

    Saigon Jewelry Company gold bar increased by 0.23% to VND87.1 million (US$3,430.49) per tael.

    Gold ring price went up 0.23% to VND85.9 million per tael.

    Globally gold slipped as investors booked profits after prices hit more than one-month high earlier in the day on increased expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.

    Spot gold shed 0.5% to $2,704.41 per ounce. It hit the highest since Nov. 6 earlier in the session.

    U.S. gold futures fell 0.5% to $2,744.60.

    “It’s just profit booking because we’ve seen a good rally in gold due to various factors this week, including geopolitical tensions, China resuming gold purchases and the inflation number yesterday being in line with expectation,” said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities, Mumbai.

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  • WhatsApp adds new calling features for the holidays

    WhatsApp adds new calling features for the holidays

    WhatsApp is making it easier to connect with loved ones this holiday season with new calling features for desktop and mobile. You can now select specific participants when starting a call from a group chat, so you can call exactly who you want without disrupting the rest. This is ideal for planning surprise parties or presents.

    Video calls are also getting a makeover with ten new effects that can transform your calls into even more fun conversations. You can add puppy ears, take yourself underwater, or even hand yourself a microphone for karaoke. Additionally, video calls are getting a boost in quality. Whether you’re calling from desktop or mobile, calls are now more reliable, and you can enjoy higher resolution video with a clearer picture on both 1:1 and group calls.

    Calling on desktop is also getting an upgrade. When you click the calls tab on the WhatsApp desktop app, you’ll easily find everything you need to start a call, create a call link, or dial a number directly.

    WhatsApp has been around since 2009 and has quickly become one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. It’s known for its simplicity and reliability, and it’s used by people of all ages and backgrounds. In recent years, WhatsApp has been adding more and more features to its app, including voice and video calling. Unlike in the United States, where protocols like SMS, MMS, RCS, and iMessage dominate messaging across the country, WhatsApp has remained extremely popular globally. Additionally, it has always been a popular backup option for Americans to use when the other existing options fail.

    I think these new calling features are a great addition to WhatsApp. I especially like the ability to select specific participants when starting a call from a group chat. This is a really useful feature that I can see myself using all the time. I also like the new video call effects. They look like a lot of fun, and they can help to make video calls more engaging. I think these new features will make WhatsApp even more popular, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for the app.

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  • ChatGPT down for hours globally

    ChatGPT down for hours globally

    AI chatbot ChatGPT suffered outage globally for several hours Thursday before resuming services.

    “ChatGPT, API, and Sora were down today but we’ve recovered,” the parent company OpenAI said in a post on X at around 1:00 p.m.

    It referred to API, a cloud interface that gives users access to AI models, and Sora, the new video generation AI model.

    OpenAI’s data shows that a “major outage” occurred for 4 hours and 10 minutes Thursday morning.

    But at the time of publishing the issues have been resolved.

    “All services are now fully operational,” OpenAI said in a note on its website, adding that it will run a full root-cause analysis of the outage and will share details when complete.

    Users began reporting outages at around 7:00 a.m, according to Downdetector, a platform which tracks the status of websites.

    In the U.S., nearly 28,500 people were unable to access ChatGPT as of 7:40 a.m.

    ChatGPT, launched in 2022, has more than 300 million weekly active users, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said earlier this month.

  • Diesel hits 6-week low, gasoline steadies

    Diesel hits 6-week low, gasoline steadies

    Vietnam’s gasoline prices inched up while diesel dropped to a six-week low Thursday afternoon.

    The popular fuel RON95 gained 0.15% to VND20,590 (US$0.81) per liter.

    Diesel dropped 0.71% to VND18,250.

    Regulators said that fuel prices in the last seven days were affected by rising geopolitical tension in the Middle East, ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and OPEC+’s reduced oil demand growth forecast for 2025.

    Gasolines went up 0.2% while oils fell 0.8-4.3% in the period. RON95 is now at $84.1 per barrel and diesel at $86.9.

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  • WhatsApp working on a way for you to forward a message to Meta AI

    WhatsApp working on a way for you to forward a message to Meta AI

    WhatsApp is working on making Meta AI more useful and with the help of an upcoming update, you could be getting more context about the messages you are receiving.

    WhatsApp has been putting a lot of effort into tackling scams and fake news on its platform. Now, there’s a new feature being developed that would let you forward messages to Meta AI so you can get more context on them.

    Meta AI has been present on WhatsApp since April of this year. The AI chatbot is there to answer your questions, give advice, and also generate content among other things. However, previously you weren’t able to forward messages or media you’ve received to the chat with Meta AI. But that seems to be about to change.

    The folks at WABetaInfo have found that WhatsApp will be letting you get more context of messages you’ve received thanks to Meta AI. The new feature will let you select Meta AI from the contact list when you decide to forward a message. Right now, the functionality has been found for WhatsApp for Android.

    Right now, you can send media or messages to Meta AI by copy-pasting it in the conversation with the chatbot. Also, you will be able to add your question along with the forwarded message with a new “Ask a question” box which will appear at the bottom when you’re forwarding to Meta AI.

    If you choose not to provide context when you’re forwarding the message to the AI chatbot, it will just analyze the message as is and generate a response. If you want it to check the authenticity of a message, it would be better to ask things like “Is this information accurate”, so Meta AI will know what you want it to do with the forwarded message.

    Right now, the feature is under development. It is not clear when it will launch to the public, but hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.

    I’m a big fan of generative AI and I feel like it’s super useful. The above use case is another great way to take advantage of the power of AI.

    You will be able to check if a message is a scam, but you can also verify how truthful the info in a message is as well, which will help you think critically about things that you receive. And we all know that critical thinking is super important on the internet these days. Just don’t forget to think critically about the Meta AI answer as well.

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  • Google Docs users can now use 40 more document templates

    Google Docs users can now use 40 more document templates

    Google Docs grows and grows: the Big G has introduced a refreshed library of templates, featuring 40 new designs.

    The rollout of these templates began on December 10, 2024, and will be accessible to Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

    The new collection focuses on improving both the visual appeal and functionality of documents. Designed to be pageless, these templates come with features like document tabs for better organization, placeholder chips that streamline data entry, and building blocks with pre-set layouts and styles to give documents a polished and premium look.

    Users can find these templates by selecting the “Templates” button in a new document or navigating to File > New > From template gallery in an existing one.

    A wide range of use cases is covered by the templates, from blog posts and press releases to business proposals and journals.

    Business users are taken care of as well: they can take advantage of templates for project roadmaps, marketing plans, and sales emails, while HR teams are offered options like interview guides, onboarding guides, and training manuals.

    Recently, Google Slides also got decorated with a new collection of cool templates to help users create presentations quickly and effectively. This new collection has sales pitches, product roadmaps, and strategic plans for business users. Education-focused options include lesson plans, book reports, and project reports. Additionally, templates for milestone celebrations, workshops, and team games are designed to enhance collaboration. Pretty versatile!

    I guess templates help users save time by eliminating the need to start documents from scratch, but… probably many people are just asking various AI clients to provide the

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  • Global disruption of Meta services hits Facebook, Instagram

    Global disruption of Meta services hits Facebook, Instagram

    Meta’s apps like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp experienced outages Thursday, leaving users worldwide unable to connect or facing intermittent disruptions.

    The Vinh of Ha Dong District in Hanoi said at around 1 a.m. on Thursday he received a message notification on Messenger but was unable to view it as the app failed to load.

    “Initially I thought it was due to an undersea fiber-optic cable issue or heavy nighttime gaming traffic slowing the internet.

    When he tried to access other Meta apps, he found Facebook was accessible, though slowly, but Instagram displayed login errors. Many users reported being unable to access Messenger or Facebook on both phones and computers.

    According to Downdetector, a tool that monitors the status of internet services, reports of issues began surfacing globally at around 12:30 a.m. Vietnam time and peaked at 1 a.m.. There were over 80,000 reports for Facebook, 66,000 for Instagram and more than 10,000 for Messenger and WhatsApp.

    Unlike in March this year the outage did not cause a complete service disruption. Users experienced sporadic connectivity issues; some could not use the platforms on computers but managed to chat on their phones. Many users took to X to express their frustrations, causing hashtags like #facebookdown and #metadown to trend widely.

    By 2 a.m. Meta’s official X account acknowledged the issue in a statement: “We’re aware that a technical issue is impacting some users’ ability to access our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.”

    By 5:26 a.m. Meta announced that the recovery process was “99% of the way there – just doing some last checks.” By 6 a.m. Instagram’s X account confirmed that the issue had been resolved.

    In March Meta’s services were down for about an hour. A comparable event occurred in 2021 when its multiple platforms were inaccessible globally for six hours due to a “configuration error” in their system. In 2019 Facebook’s web version also experienced a 24-hour connectivity loss.

  • Former Starbucks Vietnam head becomes Phuc Long beverage chain CEO

    Former Starbucks Vietnam head becomes Phuc Long beverage chain CEO

    Patricia Marques, formerly the chief of Starbucks Vietnam for over 11 years, has been named the CEO of beverage chain operator Phuc Long Heritage.

    Marques has made an appearance at of Phuc Long’s recent events, and is introduced on the website of Masan Group, the parent company of Phuc Long Heritage, as “a seasoned food and beverage executive with a proven track record of success in the Vietnamese market.”

    Prior to joining Phuc Long, she served as general manager of Starbucks Vietnam, where she oversaw all aspects of the business and maintained a close relationship with its partner, Maxims HK.

    Before that she had spearheaded the establishment of international operations for companies such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Panera Bread and Highlands Coffee.

    Marques has lived in Vietnam for the past 14 years and considers HCMC her home, according to Masan.

    “We believe that Patricia will write the next chapter for Phuc Long Heritage and build a tea brand to represent Vietnamese culture.”

    Phuc Long has 176 stores nationwide. In the third quarter its net revenues rose nearly 13% year-on-year to VND425 billion (US$16.75 million).

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  • Bridgestone Vietnam inaugurates 11th ‘Bridge of Knowledge’ in Cao Bang

    Bridgestone Vietnam inaugurates 11th ‘Bridge of Knowledge’ in Cao Bang

    Bridgestone Vietnam recently inaugurated the Noc Soa 2 Bridge in Cao Bang Province, providing safer school access for 40 children and restoring transportation infrastructure for 51 households impacted by Typhoon Yagi.

    The bridge, measuring 25 meters in length and over 3 meters in width, with a load capacity of 6 tons, addresses longstanding challenges in Noc Soa Hamlet. For years, nearly 330 residents relied on makeshift bridges for daily travel. These temporary structures were often swept away during the rainy season, isolating communities, disrupting transportation, and preventing children from attending school.

    Bridgestone Vietnam collaborated with E-X-PRO Advertising Co., Ltd., and local authorities to construct the bridge, prioritizing technical standards and resilience. Enhancements included reinforced embankments to prevent erosion and expanded bridge wings to reduce the impact of flooding.

    “I find this new bridge very beautiful and I’m very happy. With this bridge, I’m no longer afraid of falling on my way to school. During storms and floods, I won’t be scared when going to school anymore.” shared a student from Ca Thanh Commune.

    Dang Van Kinh, Deputy Chairman of the Commune People’s Committee of Ca Thanh Commune, expressed gratitude for the new bridge, noting that it fulfills a long-standing community need. He highlighted the bridge’s role in ensuring safer travel, particularly during the rainy season, and its potential to reduce transportation costs for farmers, thereby supporting local livelihoods.

    Naoki Inutsuka, General Director of Bridgestone Tire Sales Vietnam LLC, remarked on the timely completion of the Noc Soa 2 Bridge as part of the company’s “Bridges of Knowledge” project. He emphasized the bridge’s contributions to local economic recovery, agricultural development, and safer school access for children.

    “We hope this bridge will provide the community with improved opportunities and safety, reflecting our mission of ‘Serving society with superior quality,’” said Inutsuka.

    The “Bridge of Knowledge” initiative reflects Bridgestone’s commitment to fostering sustainable development and enhancing mobility in disadvantaged areas. The project aligns with the company’s E8 Commitment, which focuses on empowerment, access, and comfort for all.

    Bridgestone, a global leader in the tire and rubber industry, operates in Vietnam through Bridgestone Tire Sales Vietnam LLC and Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam LLC. The company offers a diverse range of products and services, prioritizing safety, sustainability, and innovation to enhance mobility and quality of life.

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  • Singapore McDonald’s faces backlash over new extra sauce charge starting 2025

    Singapore McDonald’s faces backlash over new extra sauce charge starting 2025

    Singapore McDonald’s has faced online criticism after announcing a new charge for extra sauce tubs, set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2025.

    Customers will be charged up to 70 S$cents (US$0.52) for additional sauces beyond the standard portion for certain menu items.

    “What a horrid start to 2025,” said a commenter. “Outrageous,” said another.

    McDonald’s explained on its website that the “nominal charge” is meant to manage food waste and rising food costs

    While ketchup and garlic chilli sauce will remain free, additional charges will apply to other sauces. For example, sauces for Chicken McNuggets (barbecue, curry, honey mustard), hotcakes syrup, and whipped butter pads will cost 50 S$ cents per tub. Japanese roasted sesame dressing will be priced at 70 S$ cents per packet.

    This change follows a similar policy from 2012, when McDonald’s began charging 30 S$cents for extra sauce with nugget meals.

  • Nvidia looking to hire engineers and managers in Hanoi

    Nvidia looking to hire engineers and managers in Hanoi

    Chipmaker Nvidia is recruiting engineers and managers for its operations in Hanoi, where it seems set to design and produce graphic processing units.

    It is seeking to fill nine positions, including those of IT, senior production support and system test design engineers and two senior managers, according to job posts on recruitment platform LinkedIn.

    One position is in a factory in Bac Ninh, an industrial province next to Hanoi. The senior manager for manufacturing operations requires the candidate to “spearhead the development of an impactful team in Vietnam from the ground up.”

    Applicants for this position need a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, business or equivalent experience along with 15 years of overall experience and five years of specific management experience.

    Hanoi HR professional Dam Trang said Nvidia’s moves indicate that it is in the process of starting operations in Hanoi.

    As Nvidia is a chip designer and does not own factories, the fact that it is looking for manufacturing personnel shows it wants its own people to supervise suppliers’ production, she said.

    Though most of the requirements for the candidates are typical for a large company, finding individuals with more than 10 years’ experience in semiconductors would be challenging as the industry has only seen significant growth in Vietnam in the last few years, she said.

    During his visit to Vietnam on Dec. 5, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang signed an agreement with the government to establish an AI research and development center and an AI data center.

    He praised Vietnam’s strengths in STEM and its potential to produce AI talent.

    He also vowed to promote the local AI industry through infrastructure development, training and fostering an AI startup ecosystem.

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  • Vietnam IT graduates face unreasonable job experience requirements

    Vietnam IT graduates face unreasonable job experience requirements

    Many companies demand prior experience from their recruits but fail to provide opportunities for newcomers to gain it—creating a vicious cycle that exacerbates recruitment challenges.

    Vietnam produces a significant number of IT graduates annually, along with professionals from other fields transitioning into IT through short-term courses or training centers. Despite this, tech companies often face manpower shortages because they prioritize hiring experienced professionals and dismiss fresh graduates who fail to meet stringent requirements.

    Highlighting this paradox, a reader named Hanuan commented: “Every company demands employees with experience, expertise, and compatibility with their work culture, yet they offer very low salaries. Where does that leave fresh graduates? For someone to gain experience, companies must provide opportunities. Without offering jobs, how do they expect these graduates to acquire the required experience?

    “This approach complicates recruitment as the high standards are nearly impossible to meet. Meanwhile, the experienced professionals they prefer often pursue their own career paths, leaving businesses passively reliant on a limited talent pool.”

    Another reader, Hai Nam Trinh, described the situation as increasingly unreasonable: “How do employers define ‘skilled workers’? Do they expect candidates to master all programming languages, networks, and systems? How many people in Vietnam actually fit that description? Such expectations are unrealistic for fresh graduates. If someone does meet these demands, companies then brand them as overconfident for asking for higher salaries.

    “This year, with fewer job openings and employers holding all the cards, workers have little choice but to accept unfair conditions.”

    Similarly, reader Thainv said: “The truth is that companies today set the bar too high. My company only hires senior or mid-level staff. Applicants must demonstrate strong English proficiency, evidenced by a TOEIC score of at least 700 or being able to hold basic English conversations. They also need solid technical expertise, a strong foundation, and advanced skills. For senior roles, candidates must additionally be equipped with management and operational skills, akin to a project manager. Realistically, how many people with 3-4 years of experience meet all these criteria?”

    Reader Minhtrungpham echoed these concerns: “Companies now mainly seek technical staff with at least one year of experience. How can fresh graduates meet this requirement? IT is a field that relies heavily on self-learning and mentorship from senior colleagues when challenges arise. Businesses could assign senior staff to guide newcomers. Implementing such a system could partially alleviate the shortage of IT professionals while also creating more job opportunities. However, if companies insist on requiring specific years of experience, this issue will persist indefinitely.”

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