Pakistan russia relationship

Lam’s introduction happened during the halftime break of a J1 League match between Osaka and Urawa Reds. He had earlier spent 14 days in quarantine.

Wearing the number 1 jersey, Lam was introduced alongside Australian forward Adam Taggart.

“Hello everyone, I’m Dang Van Lam, a goalkeeper from Vietnam. I’m really happy and excited to be here for the first time. I will train really hard to play well and contribute to the club,” Lam said.

Osaka is currently fourth on the table after 12 J1 League rounds. The club is slated to play in the AFC Champions League tournament. To get a regular spot in the team, the 28-year-old keeper will have to prove his worth and compete against other keepers in the team like South Korean Kim Jin-hyeon and Japanese Kenya Matsui.

Lam, who grew up in Russia and spent his youth at Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Moscow clubs, moved to Vietnam in 2011 to play for the Hoang Anh Gia Lai club. After unsuccessful spells in Laos and Russia, his career finally took off in 2015 after he joined Hai Phong FC.

He retained his excellent form for the next four years, got called up to the national team and has become its number one choice.

In 2019, he transferred to Muangthong United for $500,000 and put in 42 appearances for the Thai club.

He will be the fourth Vietnamese to play for a Japanese club, after Le Cong Vinh (Consadole Sapporo), Nguyen Tuan Anh (Yokohama FC) and Nguyen Cong Phuong (Mito Hollyhock). All three predecessors played for the J2 League, making Lam the first Vietnamese to play for a J1 League team.

Lam was in the news earlier this year when he decided to end his contract with Muangthong United and move to Osaka. Muangthong has reported him to FIFA for contract violation, but Lam’s agent said the player has every right to terminate the contract since the Thai club had cut his pay without telling him.

To better understand this concept, VietNamNet talks with Dr. Nguyen Van Dang, an expert on public Administration and policy from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dang. Photo: Pham Hai

The media is familiar with the concepts of corporate governance, urban governance, global governance. Is this the first time the documents of the Party Congress have used the “national governance” concept?

It is true that this is probably the first time the Party documents have mentioned the concept of “governance”. More specifically, in the Political Report of the 12th Party Central Committee presented at the 13th Party Congress, in the section “The key tasks and strategic breakthroughs of the 13th term”, the Party advocated: “Changing national governance in the direction of modernity and efficiency”.

This concept is also used with the same connotations in the “Lessons from experience” section of the 2016-2020 socio-economic report; Resolution of the 13th Party Congress; Socio-economic development strategy for the period 2021-2030. Thus, the concept of “national governance” has been used four times in the documents.

When did the concept of “governance” appear and what does it mean?

The concept of “governance” originated in the ancient Greek as “kubernan”, meaning control/guide. Later, Plato used the word with the connotation of “designing a ruling system”. In the Middle Ages the word “gubernare” appeared in Latin, which also implied to guide/control or rule through law. Until the 1970s, “governance” was still commonly used in the same meaning as “government”.

In the early 1980s, the concept of “governance” became more common and used with a broader meaning.

Government not only refers to the activities of the state, but also extends to non-state subjects. This diverse network of actors gradually reduces the notion of boundaries between units in government, between public – private sector, or domestic – international.

So far, there still exist different interpretations of the concept of “governance” among the sciences. In terms of solving common problems of the community, “governance” or “public governance” is generally understood as the establishment, application, and enforcement of “rules of the game”.

More specifically, it is a set of principles for collective decision-making in multidisciplinary contexts, and there is no formal system of control between them that governs the terms of the relationship between the subjects participating in the governance system.

The difference between “state management” and “national governance ”

What are the key features of national governance?

The first is the multi-subject feature. The governance system will include not only the government, laws, principles and administrative regulations and state agencies, but also private subjects and non-profit organizations, as well as the more active role of every citizen.

Therefore, the public interest is no longer the only basis for governance decisions. In the framework of a multi-subject relationship, the interests of different subjects must be respected. Consequently, policies or management decisions tend to be dominated by diverse interests, not just public interests.

Second, reduce the gap and narrow the public-private boundary. The governance system integrates administrative systems with market and non-profit mechanisms, thereby narrowing and blurring the boundaries between the state and society.

Third, the cooperation between partners will gradually replace the imposed relationship in order as in the traditional government model. Due to the participation of diverse subjects in governance relationships, the form of those relationships will gradually change to a horizontal relationship, which is more collaborative, cooperative, and equal.

Fourth, governance is interconnected – governance models and paradigms that include institutions and people at all levels of government as well as different policy areas, and are not limited by the local territory border.

So, what is the most fundamental difference between “state management” and “governance”?

Management, whether at the organizational, local or national level, always has a subject that controls relationships and decision-making (government, board of directors, administrators…). However, when it comes to governance, such a central subject does not exist.

The 13th National Party Congress. Photo: Pham Hai

Therefore, the most fundamental difference among management systems is that there will not be a single subject that can fully control the collective decision-making process in multi-subject governance relationships.

Good sign

How will the role of the government be in the national governance system?

Governance systems require the government to gradually adapt to its role of coordinating the differences in expectations and interests of subjects of governance. It also means that the government cannot easily impose its will on related parties as in a traditional governance model.

How do you evaluate the emergence of the concept of “national governance” in the documents of the 13th Party Congress?

First of all, I think it is a good sign because it shows the change in the Party’s perception. However, the limited use of this concept also proves a certain caution of the Party towards this new concept.

In your opinion, why is there such caution?

In my opinion, “governance” is a concept of Western origin so it reflects tradition and reality in Western societies. This concept, thus, will still be very strange to many Vietnamese people.

In addition, the tradition and reality of the political – administrative system in Vietnam and many East Asian countries in general are also very different from the West. Therefore, we cannot rush to use arbitrarily foreign concepts.

Building a national governance model

What is your opinion about the future of “governance thinking” in Vietnam?

We live in a rapidly changing and interdependent world. Therefore, since the late 1990s, management thinking has been an increasingly popular trend in the world.

At home, reforming the political – administrative system towards respecting and promoting the people’s mastery has been a consistent policy of the Party in many recent congresses.

The reality also shows the limitations of the state’s ability and resources in solving community problems. Therefore, we are witnessing the increasingly active participation of businesses, social organizations and individual citizens, working side by side with the government to solve collective problems.

What are the challenges in the process of building “national governance” in Vietnam?

“Governance” is an exotic concept so the first challenge is that we must define this concept associated with the actual context in Vietnam today. This has not been shown in the documents of the 13th Party Congress.

On that foundation, the next step is to build a national governance theory and model, which can catch the world’s movement trends and reconcile with the traditional and current characteristics of Vietnam.

I think that this is a theoretical challenge that the Party should be concerned about in coming years.

Hien Anh

Illustrative photo

JOURNALIST: – Sir, do you think the USA will return to renegotiate the terms for the CPTPP deal with other countries?

Dr. VO DAI LUOC: – The question of whether the USA will return to the CPTPP deal or not is a matter of great concern, not only for countries that are members of the CPTPP but also for other ally countries of America. I think that although the US President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the CPTPP right now, there is also an overwhelming leaning towards multilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). So in the short term, the US may not be able to renegotiate to rejoin the CPTPP. The reason is that the more Free Trade Agreements develop, the less are the chances of the US once again rejoining the CPTPP.

For instance, at present many countries are benefiting much more from FTAs because of more capital flow, and better markets, labor, and technology. However, voters in developed countries, like the US, believe that they are at a disadvantage because large corporations will lean towards the developing countries to take advantage of cheaper labor, growing markets, and preferential tax policies.

Former President Donald Trump launched the concept of fair and free trade, which is also how he sympathized with voters and had the support of his voter base. However, that which is fair is also not easy to do. Hence, although President Joe Biden wants to renegotiate the CPTPP for benefits to the US, it is unlikely he can do it at this time. The US still has many unresolved domestic issues that need to be tackled before thinking of rejoining the CPTPP, such as consent of congress on issues related to businesses and labor.

– Sir, will China be able to rejoin the CPTPP, given that its leaders have repeatedly expressed their will to do so?

– China has officially declared that they want to rejoin the CPTPP, but it is still a far cry from wanting and actually realizing. First of all, there are terms in the CPTPP that can be considered progressive, but also binding. If China wants to participate, they will have to reform very strongly, especially in their policy towards current state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The Chinese SOE block is too strong, and the Chinese SOE support and protection policy is also too huge. Therefore, the question arises if China will reform this policy to conform to the terms of the CPTPP. Besides this, there are also intellectual property rights and labor issues to upgrade.

Such reforms in China are not easily implemented, especially the policy of economic development, for which the Chinese prefer a very nationalistic approach. Therefore, in my opinion, both China and the US will not be able to participate in the CPTPP in coming time.

– Sir, there is also an opinion that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) plays a key role in China, so they will put pressure on the US to return to the CPTPP soonest. What is your opinion on this?

– RCEP associates have long-term strategic interests with China and neighboring countries. This is also believed to be a factor that motivates the US under the leadership of President Joe Biden to rejoin the CPTPP. Besides, this agreement is the best tool for the US to deepen economic relations with the region. In fact, the US can still maintain flexibility in that it seek a narrower agreement with CPTPP member countries on topics such as digital trade, the environment, and climate change, or on the sale and purchase of medical equipment and other essential products. Such an agreement will help build trust and serve as a starting point for the US to rejoin the CPTPP.

– Sir, what are the trends in US trade policy under President Joe Biden?

– I think that the trade policies will still serve the long-term strategies of the US. It will be a reassertion of their position as a world leading power, and show control over emerging nations that threaten America’s superpower status, of which China is number one. The US trade policy under President Joe Biden may be both competitive and controlling, though it must also clearly define a restructuring of relationship on the basis of mutual benefits.

On a broader scale, the US wants to reestablish its own set of rules, rather than reestablish new global governance, including in trade. Although this global governance model is in context of a current multilateral world, the US still maintains its superpower status across the world, as well as over its core interests. The problem is how the new rules will be introduced by President Biden, which are still unclear, and only time will tell.

– Thank you very much.

Luu Thuy (interviewer)

The event was held amid the Vietnamese Government is building important documents to submit to the National Assembly for approval, related to socio-economic development orientations, fiscal management and public debt and public investment for the 2021-2025 period.

The webinar also aims to promptly and accurately provide investors information on the country’s socio-economic development and the Government’s decisions related to the investor community.

According to the MOF, Vietnam joining the group of middle-income countries marks an important milestone, opening new possibilities for proactive and effective debt management, while offering the country an opportunity to access a large commercial capital market, allowing for more proactive and flexible capital mobilisation with appropriate borrowing costs amid Vietnam’s positive economic development.

Increasing contact and maintaining relations with investors is an important task to ensure the timely and accurate transmission of information on the macro scale, socio-economic development of the country and Government’s policies to investors.

At the forum, the IMF’s representatives offered suggestion on the objectives and principles of investor relations, focusing on the transparency of data and decisions, the ability to connect with the local authorities to further clarify public information and the accuracy of data.

In addition, IMF experts also offered ways to facilitate investor relations, including setting up website debt management, organising market consultations, phone talks, seminars and conferences, and especially setting up institutional tools to better perform the investor relations function.

Domestic experts at the event discussed the current practices in implementing the investor relationship, the coordination process among agencies, and regulations on reporting data.

The MOF also said that the goal of the series of cooperation activities with the IMF is to help the relevant agencies to strengthen their staff’s capacity in relation to practices of the international capital market, facilitating them to be more proactive in accessing the market and allowing them to conduct transactions immediately at the most favourable times.

In addition to mobilising international capital, the task of contacting and providing accurate information to investors must become a regular task, thereby contributing to promoting the image and reputation of the country to international friends.