Basic Characteristics of Political System
Vietnam is a one-party state and is headed by a communist party with no known opposition parties. This party, therefore, holds powers effectively thus making a centralized system of government. Right after acquiring independence, Vietnam held elections to elect its National Assembly, which is considered “the supreme organ of power”. According to the constitution, the National Assembly elects the president and prime minister. The president serves both as the commander in chief of the armed forces and the head of state. He also oversees the foreign dealings and domestic relations of the country. On the other hand, the prime minister is the head of the cabinet, with the power to making decisions before consultations with the members of the National Assembly. In that regard, the National Assembly, therefore, has the highest legislative powers while the executive agencies; that is, the president’s office and prime minister, have the highest powers in the government. Moreover, the National Assembly is the same powerful organ that is in control of the country’s foreign relations and affairs. This same institution “…decides on the security of the nation” thus making it influences the security policies of Vietnam. “There are 493 members of the National Assembly” and all citizens of the country who are above 18 years of age elect them. They are allowed to be in the office for only five years upon which an election is carried out again to determine new members. Political constraints such as lack of transparency during elections are examples that affected the political stability of the Vietnamese in the future, but now, the democracy practiced by the nation has straightened such setbacks. The most common threat that most countries face is corruption, and Vietnam is not an exception. Its government has experienced incidences of corruption, therefore, threatening the strength of the national assembly. “The foreign policy of Vietnam revolves around being in good rapport with other countries through the promotion of peace and good working relations”. In the real sense, it talks about being proactive and active in the carrying out of duties with other nations. Those in charge of the foreign policy actions are flexible in such a way that they will welcome matters that will boost foreign investment, “encourage new foreign relations and promote economic growth by opening the market of Vietnam to the overseas countries”. All this will be done with the interest of orientation of foreign policy.
Vietnam seems to be progressing quite well both economically and politically but has shown instances of depending on aid from the United States. One other observation to note is that as the rich become richer, while the poor remain the same therefore creating a major gap between the rich and the poor. The government is thus dedicated to solving this problem by ensuring the collection of revenues and scaling of corporate tax is done effectively. In addition, when Vietnam and China resolved their differences and created good working relations, other countries responded to this change effectively by investing in their economy thus boosting its growth. Despite this growth, there have been impediments to their progress. For instance, during the economic recession of Asia, Vietnam “became unwilling to give an ear to its foreign investors, therefore, resulting in a hindered growth”.
Just like any country striving for growth politically, Vietnam faces some political constraints. First of all, the system of governance is such that power is located centrally to a single party; implying that decisions are made from above making little or no consultations to other important bodies in the government. This has led to a lack of cooperation within the ministries “leading to long delays and frustration” when vital decisions are to be implemented. This has posed a challenge since the government has taken the initiative to improve communication but certain individuals have found a way of resisting this change.
The security policies of this country are influenced by influential figures such as the members of the National Assembly. Such policies can be modified when there is, for example, a breach of security. Citizens also can influence the security policies through boycotting national meetings or venting out their anger through demonstrations in the city. In addition, the social system of Vietnam has been influenced by the ever-changing economic structure of the country.
Assessment of Stability of Political and Social System
The trickling down of power from the communist party downwards to the lowest position signifies many issues based on the stability of Vietnam’s political system. Such a system of governance is a threat to political stability. The reason is that very little consultation is made to seek third-party opinion when drawing a decision. Lack of effective communication within the ministries in the government displays poor bureaucracy. For instance, for communication about specific matters of governance to take place, circulars about the matter at hand have to be rotated to other ministries for them to get the latest information and give input. The setback here is that different ministries will have different interpretations of the matter thus bringing in miscommunication and unnecessary paperwork that could be resolved by holding discussions and getting immediate feedback. The use of circulars is also a waste of time and resources that results in delaying the implementation of important issues. In addition to that, the fact that some bureaucrats are determined to forgo the government’s efforts in finding ways of speeding up decision-making indicates that some of the government officials are “…skilled in the art of finding exceptions to such rules…” These government officials may cause a threat to the stability of Vietnam’s politics. However, having a strong and well-organized National Assembly with effective legislation powers and an equally stronger office of the president and prime minister gives the country a reason to believe that at least there are authoritative figures that can control the country and drive it towards achieving healthy foreign relations.
The social system in Vietnam has been modified considerably during the past few years. Right from the influence of the French rule to the cooperation of the American culture, this has bred a different value system, change in lifestyle and behavioral pattern, and a distinct change in social structure. The nineteenth century especially experienced, this change when the French rule dominated leading to the “introduction of western education, beginnings of industrialization and urbanization…” therefore leading to the downfall of the former powerful emperor. The social system is still changing as long as Vietnam does not close its doors to foreigners and tourists, who seem to have a very strong influence on its traditions.
Key Players in security orientation
The Political Bureau commonly referred to as the Politburo,” is made up of 15 members and is the core of power in the Vietnamese government”. Its major members are the Secretary-General, who is ranked the highest, then the President and Prime minister. In Politburo, decisions concerning policies are initiated and later forwarded to the members of the National Assembly to make necessary legislative changes.
The current president of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Triet, has played a major role in the implementation of the foreign policy in his country by ensuring that Vietnam takes part in global trade and good diplomatic relations are maintained. “He was born on 8th October 1962 and was the former leader of the Communist party”. He has been known as a reformer who “guided the agricultural province of Song Be into an attractive destination for foreign investment”. When he joined Politburo and became the head of the party, he managed to oversee a campaign that was against corruption and organized crime.
The Prime Minister of the current Vietnam government is Nguyen Tan Dung who was “born on 17 November 1949” and is known to have been the youngest prime minister when he assumed office. He worked in the army and the medical camp for the military, which he would later join as a fully-fledged fighter. While doing communication and medical tasks in the military, he was “four times wounded in the Vietnam War”. He also once served as deputy prime minister and was “admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam on June 10, 1967.” In a recent interview about inflation in Vietnam, the Prime Minister states that “the government has continued in its efforts to create a business environment that is attractive, open, and transparent.” This statement indicates the Prime Minister’s commitment to maintaining a good image of Vietnam by attracting foreign investors and improving the economy of the country. This is part of the orientation of foreign policy. The government of Vietnam is committed to building its relations with its neighboring countries such as China and Cambodia to carry out economic and foreign relations effectively, thus fulfilling the need for continuous implementation of foreign policy.
Nona Duck Man is the General Secretary of CPV (Communist Party of Vietnam) and the highest-ranked member of the Politburo. He once held a supervisory position in the forestry department and later “joined the Communist Party on 5 July 1963 and received full membership on 10 July 1964.” He has been in the highly ranked position in the Politburo for more than ten years and he is said to have risen rapidly to this position because of a rumor that he may be the illegitimate son of Ho Chi Minh, former Northern Vietnam’s leader. He is has been labeled as a modernized leader who wants to see Vietnam becoming industrialized in some years to come. Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) amid concerns about the economy and status of the local firms. To lure investors, the WTO intended to give Vietnam access to global markets. By doing this, the Vietnamese food industry would be given a backup in terms of export. The General Secretary posits that being a member of WTO has helped to increase Vietnam’s competitiveness and its economy. By opening itself to the global market, the General Secretary agrees to the idea of joining the overseas market thus formulation of the foreign policy.
The Foreign Ministry
The foreign ministry of Vietnam is dedicated to improving trade and economic relations with other countries to encourage diversity. To achieve this, the ministry has carried out trade deals with countries such as Australia and the European Union. Membership in WTO has enabled it to increase its trade with other nations thus improving its economy. In addition, with the interest of promoting goodwill, the ministry of foreign affairs has committed itself to recognize the significance of human rights and has incorporated itself with other countries towards pursuing the goal of protecting human rights. Holding of talks with the United States, and the presidents of both countries paying a visit to either country have improved diplomatic ties. In fact, “United States relations with Vietnam have become increasingly cooperative and broad-based.” The ambassadors of Vietnam to other countries have recently been encouraged to develop good ties with
The countries they are posted to develop excellent foreign relationships. One can note that many people from China are working and studying in Vietnam, therefore, encouraging an exchange in culture and improving friendships. The fact that the defense forces are readily on the lookout for terrorist attacks is enough proof to show that the foreign ministry is active in ensuring national security is preserved. The traditions of this ministry are to ensure there is a continuous flow of tourists, make sure that the country has a positive image to the world and good diplomatic ties, ensure there is the orientation of its foreign policy, and finally, find ways and means of attracting foreign investors, safeguard its national security.
Military
Organizational and Operational Features of the military
“The official name for the military services of Vietnam is Vietnam People’s Army (VPA)”. The VPA has been actively involved in the workforce of Vietnam to help develop the economy of the country and plays a role in the coordination of Vietnam’s national defense. It is thus involved in sectors like agriculture, industry, telecommunications, and fishery. The VPA has 500,000 officers. The main function of VPA is to organize the force in all its activities such as training. The military of the Vietnam government is highly answerable to the government and Vietnam is known for its “reputation for military efficiency.” This is backed up with evidence of the overcoming of its battles with the United States, Chinese and French forces. It is on the move of upgrading its military with the reason of being prepared in case an attack from the Chinese occurs. The military’s main purpose is to defend the country from attack. The military team is organized in such a way that in case of an attack, the team is sent to the area to protect its citizens and the country. The military can also serve as aid to other nations whenever they ask for military assistance thereby, supporting foreign policy. Moreover, the presence of the military is a mere indication of support of the foreign policy. For instance, in the case of limited war, the military can be utilized to cause limited damage and loss to the enemy while in total war; they may destroy the government, the armed forces, and the people in the land of the enemy. “After the victory, they are sometimes called to occupy the land of the enemy and make repairs following the damage they have caused”. These actions occur within the stipulations of foreign policy.
Description Of Weapon System
Most of the military equipment was a donation by the Soviet Union to the Vietnam government. The donation cost billions of dollars, back then, but after a couple of years, the country had run out of them. The weapon system consists of submarines and missiles, combat aircrafts most of which were given by countries such as Ukraine and France. China has also supplied small arms to Vietnam and at the same time, it has facilitated the development of manufacturing these ammunitions. The kind of weapon systems of Vietnam will help determine their power projection capabilities and their military position in comparison to the rest of the world. It is important to note the spending tendencies on military ammunition of Vietnam and other countries and how modern this ammunition is. Vietnam has also repaired existing fighting equipment and produced its own.
Military-civil authority relationship
The military is inevitably in contact with the civilian authorities while undertaking its duties. The military should therefore be dedicated to achieving a comfortable relationship with the civilians to eliminate any fear associated with them. The military can do this by holding conversations and being kind to the civilian authorities, ensuring them their safety. “More than showing kindness and generosity, military leaders want to create trust, build relationships and make friends.” The military of Vietnam is determined to see that there is an orientation of foreign policy by maintaining a good relationship with civilian authorities.
The foreign economic relations
Main economic institutions and capabilities
Basic characteristics
The Vietnamese economy is characterized by different institutions. These include the more traditional agricultural and forestry sector, the industries, the academic sector, and the Science and Technology sector. Within the country’s economy, the diverse sectors have specific roles.
The Vietnamese economy is characterized by the following features. For instance, the industrialization sector is primarily based on the aspect of export-led strategies. Secondly, it is also characterized by technological learning, as it is imperative to learning as it is continuous. Implicit policies on technological learning are as important as explicit policies in regards to the same. Rapid industrialization did not move from science, invention to production but rather the other way round. It is also characterized by macro economical policies, appropriate educational and technological infrastructure.
The academic sector, for instance, plays a major role in the education of the common person in Vietnam. The academic sector was organized to support such structures and is thus empowered by young and enthusiastic scholars from both local and former socialist countries. In the beginning, the universities were responsible for training knowledge personnel whereas the research institutes had the basic responsibility of carrying out basic, applied, and engineering research.
The science and technology sector deals mainly with research institutions. This category includes organizations of different forms and names. These include research institutions, research centers, laboratories, experimental stations as well as observatory stations. They can further be classified into three categories, the critical scientific research centers that are established by the prime minister, a scientific organization established by a need to belong or by ministers or presidents of provinces, and finally those that do not belong to either of the above categories.
These Organizations may also be classified as non-public scientific organizations and public scientific organizations. The latter includes for instance the state critical scientific organizations and the scientific organization of universities among other institutions within the country.
Vietnam’s economy is dependent on the politics being played by its leaders. Vietnam is ideally a socialist market economy. Conversely, SOEs need to be privatized and this largely depends on the communist party. They provide both political and economic bases for the communist party-state. This encourages the communist-led party state to maintain partial ownership and therefore intervention in privatized firms. They, therefore, have a stake and as such can negotiate terms with the private firms. For instance, the state may decide to trade off ownership share for higher employment and lower subsidies for its citizens from these private firms.
Because of Vietnam’s tariff reduction following the accession of the World Trade Organization, the following things are bound to happen. For instance, sectors that are likely to benefit from this are export-oriented, sectors with large shares of total import and an increase in the domestic demand. On the other hand, however, domestic-oriented sectors are likely to contract. For there to be equitable growth patterns in Vietnam, the state should implement the following to breach the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. To begin with, they should increase labor mobility, liberalize target sectors as well as disadvantaged target groups.
Capabilities
Vietnam is deeply committed to global and regional integration and no one doubts its seriousness in try to achieve this. For instance, Fujitsu has been operational in Vietnam since 1995 and has invested 212 million US dollars employing more than three thousand employees. In the year 2000, its revenues stood at 687 million US dollars in exports alone. It is clear for anyone to see that Fujitsu’s participation in technology transfer through training and participation is extremely productive to Vietnam. However, the industrial capability is limited due to shortcomings in the organization and legal sector. As a result, connections with foreign and local companies do not always produce the expected results.
Rural poverty in Viet Nam has led to the implementation of projects in a bid to improve the livelihoods of the Vietnamese people. Norway, for instance, funded a project totaling five million US Dollars, to revitalize lands that were considered unsuitable for farming and this has given hope to the Vietnamese people living in the coastal regions. The project targeted to benefit approximate forty thousand farmers.
When we look at the Agricultural sector in Vietnam, we find that the government has put in place policies that help encourage farming in the country. Favorable land policies have been put in place to encourage farming. The government has also implemented subsidies on farm input such as fertilizer, farm tools as well as other farm equipment. The locals mainly carry out small-scale farming and areas such as predominantly subsistence farmers. Rice is grown on a large scale in Vietnam as it is exported to other countries. It is however due to the country’s stringent policies and laws that discourage foreign investors from investing in Vietnam.
However should these laws be revised, and the farmers taught better farming methods, agriculture has the potential of becoming better than what it is now. They have the potential of producing food enough for the country and even a surplus left over for export.
Technology makes an important part of any country’s economy and Vietnam is exempted from this fact. The Vietnamese government relies too heavily on transnational firms. The country has put in place policies that encourage foreign investors to come and invest in the country. These investors invest in different industries in the country as a result do not only create jobs for the people of Vietnam but also produce goods and commodities used within the country as well as for export which in turn also acts as a source of revenue for the country.
The labor costs in Vietnam are relatively low compared to China and this combined with a decent infrastructure of communication, transportation, and power make Vietnam a better market to invest in compared to China. Vietnam’s ineffective governance partially offsets the effective workforce and cost advantages in the wages. Because of the arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement, taxation plays a negative role in the economy of the country this is because the level of corruption is relatively high in the country. The fact that the labor costs are relatively cheap and readily available in the country encourages foreign investors to invest in the country as this aspect reduces the cost of production if they are in the manufacturing industry.
Vietnam sources its energy from several places. It uses its natural resources to generate energy that is essential to run most of the programs in the country. Hydroelectric power sourced from the numerous rivers in the country is one such source. In addition, in the age of global warming, it has sources of its energy from environmentally friendly sources for example solar energy and wind. They have also turned to alternative sources of energy to feed the ever-growing demand for more energy in the country.
Despite the limited availability of arable land, the Vietnamese agricultural economy has demonstrated impressive success especially. From 1988 to 1997, Vietnam had a 50% increase in its food production. The country has achieved self-sufficiency in the production of rice and is currently a major exporter of food. It is the third leading exporter actively competing with the United States and Thailand. This led to a reduction of poverty levels in Vietnam. This has seen the country become a major trader in groundnuts as well as cashew nuts in addition to robusta coffee among the Asian countries. Coffee is the country’s second-leading agricultural export after rice. rubber and tea are also exported.
The labor force has been on a steady increase since 2003. In 1998, the labor force was estimated to stand at 38 million people. The agricultural sector employed sixty-three percent of the labor force with the industrial, service, and construction taking the rest. The government did not allow workers to become members of private trade in 2002. The sole trade union was under the control of the government. Workers would gain automatic membership to this trade union. One must be eighteen years to be fully employed. The minimum wage for workers as stipulated by the labor laws was set at 30 US dollars for foreign investment joint ventures whereas it is set at 12 dollars for those enterprises that are not of foreign investment orientation.
The graph below indicates the distribution of the labor force in the period between 2003 and 2008. The vertical scale represents the number of laborers in the millions.
Foreign Economic Policies
Assessment
In the past ten years, there has been significant liberalization of the foreign trade regime in Vietnam. Foreign trade is restrictive to protect specific industries, firms and enterprises have automatic trading rights. The non-tariff restrictions, which cause trade distortions, have been gradually abolished in Vietnam. Various export promotion measures were introduced to help encourage the exportation of goods from the country. For instance, the government allowed the private exportation of rice. They began auctioning government quotas, provided incentives to the exporters. They did away with restrictions on the foreign enterprises to export, eliminated many export taxes, and finally established many trade promotion departments in the country.
Investment capital in Vietnam increased due to construction adjustment, increase in ground clearance compensation, and exchange rates. The country is trying to instill a saving culture in its citizens especially those in the rural areas. This however is proving quite a challenge. Microfinance and small rural enterprises working on a family basis and outside of agricultural production have insufficient capital or inadequate access to finance is still a major restrictive factor in terms of increasing productivity, generating additional income, and diversifying the sources of income. Even though the government is trying to encourage saving among its people, this has not made it less dependent on borrowing money from international donor funding bodies.
The country is however fast becoming the choice destination for investors. This is because the county’s policies are being revised to become more investor-friendly. Apart from this, the low cost of wages, readily available source of labor, and availability of raw materials combine to make Vietnam an investor destination.
The country’s relationship with the donor funding organization is relatively good in that the country can borrow from them. The Hochiminh Municipal peoples committee raised a proposal to the prime minister to allow Vietnam to borrow funds from the German government totaling to a sum of 120 million US dollars with an interest rate of 0.5 percent per year, where the borrowing time and the grace period would be 40 years and 20 years respectively. The country’s debt stands at 2.55million Euros as of 2001 from FC.
Vietnam’s economy is one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asian continent. Its growth rate is estimated to be at 1.2 percent per annum. This is beneficial for the country’s economy as it encourages investors to invest in the country.
Vietnam’s main export products include rice, rubber, cashew nuts, wood, coffee, coal, and textiles. The country has large deposits of oil and gas and these are locally consumed as well exported to other countries. Its main competitor in the exportation of rice and textiles is china.
Perspectives and strategies of solving economic problems
The country has employed in its attempt at solving the economic problems several strategies. One of these strategies is the upgrading of the internal sanitary legislation and food processing about international standards. This was the strategy used by Vietnam when it wanted to export foodstuffs to developed countries. To access the European Union market, Vietnam implemented a two-fold strategy to achieve this.
First, they created a legal and regulatory framework that fitted the legal standards required to access a specific market. Secondly, they encouraged the involvement of both the public and private sectors in the investments for instance in the processing, marketing, production, and machinery. This encourages competitiveness, which in turn will translate to a higher quality of goods and services.
Tariff rates in Vietnam differ by the nature of the goods. For instance, maximum tariffs are imposed on goods such as alcohol, automobiles, motorbikes, petroleum products, glass and glass products. On the other hand, the minimum tariffs are imposed mainly on material inputs like machinery, equipment, and materials. Because of this, the effective rates of protection for final goods are often higher than the nominal ones.
The tariff schedule is divided into three categories of tariff rates. For those countries already in a bilateral trade agreement with Vietnam, the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rates are applied to the imports. Preferential tariff rates apply to goods under the AFTA, CEPT agreement, and textile and garment agreement under the Vietnam-EU agreement. Normal tariff rates, which are usually 50 percent higher than the most favored nation tariff rates, are used in the remaining circumstances. MFN rates are on the other hand 8 percent higher than the preferential tariff.
As we can see from the table below, we can see that MFN rates are 8 percent higher than the preferential tariff. The maximum tariff rate is at 45 percent compared to the preferential tariff. Standard deviation on the other hand stands at 16.2 for MFN and 8.3 for preferential rates. The ratio of standard deviation over the simple average is 86 for MSN and 10.7 for preferential tariff rates.
Table 1: Summary of Vietnam’s Tariff rates
Economic growth derives from various sources, capital, labor, natural resources, and technological management. The first three are relatively readily quantifiable. Technological management on the other hand may be determined by the following factors, technological increase in the country, renovation in the organization and management, and finally through restructuring weak mechanisms by launching good and appropriate economic policies.
Doi Moi is the name given to the economic reforms initiated in Vietnam. The economic development in Vietnam can be divided into two periods, the period before the Doi moi (before the reform) and the period after the Doi moi. The first period was characterized by the revision of trade policies to increase the country’s revenue. The national income in this period grew by 3.7 percent per year with agricultural production increasing by 3.8 percent.
Opening the economy and liberalization of the balance of payments (BOP) is recognized as an essential policy measure for developing countries as well as transitional economies to promote economic growth and development. The financial and currency crises of the 80s and 90s demonstrate what could happen if they are not properly implemented. The following risks could occur; due to the accumulation of debts for financing persistently large current account deficit, a country could become heavily indebted. As a result, debt-servicing costs increase as the size of debt and interest rates increase.
Secondly, a potential crisis looms from poor management of capital flows, especially in short-term flows. This may harm the balance sheet of financial institutions and firms due to serious maturity and currency mismatch. This in turn may lead to credit contraction and the collapse of the domestic demand (APF 2000 and Yoshitomi and Shirai 2000).
Finally, this may also lead to difficulty in having an effective monetary policy, while attempting to maintain the pegged exchange rates and to manage the risks of cross-border capital movements (Leung 1996).
Several theories have been put forward as well as the generation of crises models all attempting to characterize the nature of the BOP crises. Though they are different in terms of fundamental strengths CA deficits and its financing, the BOP crises share some common causes. These include over weaknesses of corporate and financial sectors, inconsistent macro-economic policies, and inefficient over investments.
There are some possible risks associated with the BOP crises in Vietnam. It focuses on three main interrelated issues. These include the CA deficit and external debt sustainability. The second risk is the macroeconomic policy consistency in dealing with capital flows and dollarization. Finally, problems of double mismatch in the context of financial liberalization and BOP liberalization.
The CA deficit fell rapidly during the period between 1989 and 1992. This was because the country’s traditional source of funding, the former Soviet Union, dried up. In 1993 however, Vietnam sought out other countries to finance it and consequently, the CA deficit gap continued to widen. In addition to this, the regional crisis hurt the FDIs inflows into the country, both the number of disbursements of the existing licensed projects and the number of new projects decreased sharply in the year 1998. As a result, the FDI-related equipment and machinery also decreased.
Dollarization, on the other hand, not only reduces the effectiveness of the monetary policy but also adds vulnerabilities to the banking and corporate sectors arising from currency mismatch and exchange credit risks.
Summary and conclusion
This essay has shown that Vietnam values its relationship with foreign countries and it is determined to expand its relations globally. This is evident from the fact that it has continuously worked on its relations with the United States and China despite their past differences. The reason for the value placed on how its relationship with other countries is that stable relations will ensure the successful orientation of its foreign policy. The ministry of foreign affairs has gone ahead to encourage the ambassadors of Vietnam to ensure that they positively represent their countries by creating good diplomatic relations with these countries. The government of Vietnam has also taken a step to upgrade its military position with other countries such as the United States while at the same time; it is willing to send its military to other nations to promote peace and stability globally. It also always ensures that its armed force is at the war front ready to defend its country from terrorist attacks. The military-civil relationship is also a determining factor in the implementation of foreign policy in that it ensures that the military is a friend to the civilian authorities instead of an evoker of fear. The relationship of Vietnam with other countries is therefore the most important factor in the orientation of foreign policy. The current problem facing Vietnam is the decline in foreign investors. The root cause of this problem is the system of governance, in that, since the single party is in charge, foreign investors have to deal with party officials, thus encouraging corruption. Other problems facing Vietnam are increased crime rates, poverty, and decreased internal security. The influence of foreign countries on their progress and stability will determine the future of their foreign policy. If all factors move in a positive direction, such as maintaining diplomatic relations and attracting investors, then the foreign policy will be oriented.
Development is a summative process with several purposes. These purposes include the amalgamation and interaction with the economy, the society, and the environment, where specific short-term goals may be contradicted. Globalization is very important in enabling the reproduction process. In addition, it brings about chronological change and development in the estimations as well as predictions. It is difficult to have a single to encompass completely socio-economic phenomena. Thus, different opinions are incorporated into any given policy. Thus, to achieve the set tasks every effort must be put to meet all targets as well solutions. Transparency should be practiced when formulating a country’s policies. Information should be directed towards the interests of the country and the people. Incorrect information should be captured in time to avoid formulating wrong policies. This can be done through the creation of social consensus and consistent inaction by the government.
The unpredictable changes have rocked the global economy in recent times. As Tuan puts it, “It is necessary to keep up with all moves of development to take proper and timely policy responses, to make use of new opportunities while overcoming difficulties, trying to gain a higher economic growth rate, and solving social issues effectively” (par. 5).
For Vietnam to defeat challenges and realize its socio-economic goals, it must be aware of the situation at all times to be able to take appropriate actions. In addition, the country must link efficient diplomatic work with socio-economic goals to ensure national security as well as defense. This will ensure that the sovereignty and legitimate interests of the country are protected.
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