The Greek and Athenian Concept of the World free essay sample

This paper explores the ancient Greek and Athenian concept of the world order and the conception of the human scrutinizing of previous societal, bodily and philosophical inquiry. This paper examines the classic Greeks and Athenian view on the world around them. It describes the concept of the body, mind and inner self that lead to philosophical inquiry and questioning of the human mind and the resulting societies it created. Athens during the fifth century B.C. is often identified as one of the main sources of Western values and standards. Later Europeans and Americans regarded the Athenians as the originators of democracy, drama, representational or realistic art, history, philosophy, and science. At different times over the last 2,500 years they also attempted to imitate the Golden Age of classical Athens in everything from buildings to literature. Many U.S. state capitols and government buildings are modeled on the Parthenon or other temples. We will write a custom essay sample on The Greek and Athenian Concept of the World or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We still divide drama into tragedy and comedy in the same way the Athenians did. During some historical periods, such as the Renaissance, thinkers and writers made conscious attempts to return to the classical ideals in all areas of life, combing the works of Athenians authors for previously overlooked material in the quest to draw guidance and learn everything possible from this unique flowering of culture.

Examining Mass Religious Suicide Religion Essays

Examining Mass Religious Suicide Religion Essays Examining Mass Religious Suicide Religion Essay Examining Mass Religious Suicide Religion Essay neer really saying the figure. Religious self-destruction is an action of taking one s life in the name of some kind spiritual, or sacredly associated, belief system. Equally shortly as Christian societies were formed, self-destruction was officially forbidden in them ( Durkheim,2006 ; p.292 ) . From ancient times suicide was really judged by faith and in no manner was tolerated. Evidence I came across was a penal countenance at the council of Prague in 563, which stated that people who decided to stop their life by self-destruction should be honored with no commemoration in the holy forfeit or the mass, and the vocalizing of Psalmss should non attach to their organic structures to the grave ( Durkheim,2006 ; p.292 ) . In the twenty-first century Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants ( these I am certain about ) are still non supportive of direct self-destruction. The significance of direct self-destruction is that a individual, consciously and being in stable mental status performs an act of hurt against himself. Christian traditions province that we do non hold the right to take away life that was given to us by God. Life is a gift of God and w e should appreciate that. Suicide is the cruelest signifier of slaying, due to the fact that the individual who committed self-destruction has no opportunity to remorse for the wickedness. The chief inquiry is how can somebody convert to religion, admit that God is the One who is responsible for our heartbeat- than turn their dorsums to God and unplug themselves? How can they bewray God in such manner? In Palmers book about self-destruction I found a subdivision called Myths about self-destruction . The 4th was that individuals perpetrating self-destruction are insane ( p.86 ) . Then the myth is busted by stating that people perpetrating self-destruction are normally normal . The grounds for self-destruction might be loneliness, hopelessness, weakness, deep letdown etc. What if 918 people commit self-destruction at the same clip? ( Jim Jones,1978 ) . Or 39 people kill themselves because they believe that they are go outing their human vass and will go to a gender non acknowledging starship after decease? ( Heaven s Gate, 1997 ) . Are these people merely lonely or badly depressed? Or possibly they are really non normal ? In my probe for the motive of spiritual self-destruction I searched through some lurid world-wide known events: People s Temple, Heaven s Gate, the most recent group called Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God and the inquiry of suicide poetries selflessness. Peoples s Temple The People s Temple is one of the most dramatic and well-known instance of mass spiritual self-destruction. On November 18, 1978 more than 900 people committed suicide. How a spiritual group came to that decision ? One does nt hold to delve deep to happen out the secrets of this organisation. Leader of the People s Temple was Jim Jones. This spiritual motion started when its leader made a really brilliant notice- spiritual miracles gain tonss of attending and money. Religion all in all might be a really profitable concern ( Greenberg, 1979 ) . Furthermore, by faith one may do people to follow him, by so fulfilling the demand for power and acknowledgment. Jim Jones has eventually become a metaphor, a symbol of power-hungry insanity ( Harrary, 1992 ) . In Shneidman s book The Suicidal Mind I found an analysis of Jim Jones personality. Louis West by utilizing Henry Murray s geographic expeditions in Personality and 12 demands trial evaluated Jim Jones. Out of 12 demands Jim Jones scored highest on aggression ( 12 points ) , defence ( 12 points ) , need for domination ( 12 points ) , need for attending ( 11 points ) , and turning away of shame ( 9 points ) . Interestingly in the demand for attending Jim scored the 2nd out of all presented historical people ( such as Adolph Hitler, Sigmund Freud, Vincent Van Gogh etc ) he was outscored in this demand merely by Marilyn Monroe ( 16 point ) . Some of the lowest demands were for apprehension, drama, and respect. The trial for basic demands gives us an penetration and does explicate a batch in Jones behaviour. So the creative activity of this spiritual domination did assist its leader to fulfill his basic demands for power every bit good as addition mercenary wellbeing. At first the People s Temple motion was mostly based on spiritual constructs ( mending, prays, wickednesss ) . However, the more the members of it became depended on its leader the more the motion stepped off from basic spiritual apprehension. Actually easy the God that was presented at first stepped off, and the leader of the motion Jim Jones took his topographic point. Get downing from false miracles, slippery ways of happening out information about people after on showing it as visions and weakling of household ties, it came to a point of no-escape society in which there was control over verbal look, cognitive and emotional control of the head, control of followings belongings and income ( Greenberg, 1979 ) was present. As the survived members of Peopless Temple subsequently on proclaimed they found: an unexpected sense of intent, as though they were going a portion of something inordinately important ( Harrary, 1992 ) . It turns out that for that sense of purpose Jones got to presume ultimate power over their lives ( Harrary, 1992 ) . One of the subsisters, Yolanda Williams, subsequently recalls: Although we were non shackled in ironss, our heads and Black Marias were non free, she said. Jim Jones used really slow, really seductive head control ( Carolyn, 2008 ) . Some beginnings province that Jones did drug up the participants of this motion, some province that they did hold self-destruction seek outs , others even mention that Jones was bisexual and made people watch his public intercourse both with females and males. Though the beginnings of this information seem dependable I am non certain that the instance of Jim Jones was that terrible. However, I believe that the adult male got paranoid with the thought of ultimate control. Furthermore, I do believe that he got to obsessive reading about how Stalin got people to obey him. Finally, it did made sense when aˆÂ ¦.. in his article stated that the concluding mass self-destruction, though it had some kind of message to the universe, was really the ultimate climax of power for Jones. Sadly plenty something that did get down as a faith and had some traditional elements entwined in it- finally became merely obsessional irresistible impulses of a really alone adult male. Queerly enough this adult male had his ain manner to take literally everything from people. At first people joined this motion for the interest of praying to God and functioning Him, finally they were naming Jones as their male parent and sacrificed their lives and their kids lives for him and his superb thought of directing an evolutionary message to the universe. Some subsisters province that People s Temple was the best thing that happened to them, others called it a calamity . Still there is one fact that no 1 can doubt or reason about- more than 900 people died that twenty-four hours, doing November 18 historical day of the month. Heaven s Gate If the old flooring mass self-destruction required logic for apprehension, the Heaven s Gate event requires one to turn the ability of imaginativeness. The figure of victims is much smaller, the media s attending was much less enthusiastic, less articles online, less reviews, less adept probe. However, this group decidedly stands out when compared to others- that by perpetrating self-destruction together at the right clip, they will go forth their containers ( organic structures ) behind. The psyche goes to kip until it is replanted in another container ( Robinson, 2009 ) . Thi belief led 39 people to perpetrate suicide get downing on 23 of March ( 10 people a twenty-four hours ) , 1997. The chief motive of the self-destruction was that The latter will be on-board a UFO infinite ship such as the 1 that they believe is presently hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet ( Robinson, 2009 ) . They feared that the starship might go forth from its current location and the group will neglect to be on board, unless they take away their lives now. Analyzing the belief system one can understand why despite such unusual thoughts, mentioned above, the group was still called Christian. When it comes to the rudimentss of the faith this group did hold a batch in common with the traditional faiths, nevertheless they decided to spice it up a small. So alternatively of saying that God sent his Son Jesus to the Earth, this group goes like: He left his organic structure behind, transported to Earth in a space-ship, and incarnated ( moved into ) a human organic structure, that of Jesus Christ ( Robinson, 2009 ) . Basically the chief facets of Christianity are taken, and UFO s elements are someway entwined into that. Somehow reading about these groups the leaders are ever even more absorbing than the groups themselves. The leader of this group was Marshall Applewhite. Some of the elements of the group might be explained by how the group s leader understood the universe. Applewhite did acknowledge being homosexual, after his guidance and aˆzhealing aˆzprocess failed, he was truly defeated. He was a homosexual and a homophobe at the same clip. It is believed that his facet of his life led to the fact that the group members in Heaven s gate were gender-free, no sexual individuality, no sex. This is why they cropped their hair so short, abstained from sex, wore indistinguishable vesture upon decease, and the work forces were castrated ( Hornberger, 1997 ) . When the organic structures were found on the 27th of March, 1997 They dressed in unisex garments: amorphous black shirts with Mandarin neckbands, and black bloomerss ( Robinson, 2009 ) . This group had a strong connexion to the universe via cyberspace ; moreover they spent a batch of clip shooting their thoughts on tape on posting them online. FBI did shut the site after the incident, nevertheless, some followings reposted it and one can entree it now and track the rudimentss thoughts of the group belief system. The group was examined exhaustively by the sceptics, reviews and many more. The compulsion with the UFO was someway explained that this thought was popular in the late 90 s. Movies, Tv would be that all of the people who committed self-destruction had $ 5 measures, quarters ( 55? ) in their ownership upon decease ( is at that place a toll route to Heaven s Gate? ) ; the starship is 25 stat mis broad ; etc. At the clip of this composing the significance of this numerology is non clear ( Sceptic, 1997 ) . Hornberger states that one of the primary features of cults is the denial of world . He points out that Heaven s Gate did broaden the boundaries of that denial rather far. For them their action of taking away their ain lives was non really perpetrating suicide alternatively they embarked on an exciting, intergalactic infinite escapade . Motion for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. So far we had a really a instance which required logical thought, another one where imaginativeness and tolerance had to take topographic point, now a cryptic instance surrounded with many contentions and arguments will be presented. I decided to non settle my research in Europe or USA, allow us go to Uganda. Motion for the Restoration of Ten Commandments of God was formed someplace in the late 80 s. This motion was celebrated for its highly rigorous followers of the 10 commandments of God. An illustration could that they refused to speak and used mark linguistic communication or notes in order non, even by accident, interrupt the 9 the commandment of God- Thou shalt non bear false informant against thy neighbour . This motion was instead unseeable in the universe until one twenty-four hours when more than 300 members ( subsequently on stated more than 900 ) of the motion locked themselves in the church and set the church on fire ( Santucci, 2000 ) . The motion started as one of its leader, one of the most of import 1s, Joseph Kibweteere, convinced people that he heard a conversation between the Virgin Mary and Jesus in 1987 foretelling the universe would be destroyed for non obeying the Ten Commandments ( Santucci, 2000 ) . This portion is clear and easy. However, why self-destructions took topographic point than? There is grounds that the leaders of the motion predicted the terminal of the universe on the December 31, 2000 ( Santucci, 2000 ) . After this notice the members of the group started to sell and donate their properties and ownerships. Some of the group members antecedently to the self-destruction indicated: All along they had said that this [ church ] is the boat of Noah ( Santucci, 2000 ) . However, the terminal of the universe did non go on and there are grounds that the church attendants demanded their money back from the leaders ; alternatively of money self-destruction was offered? There is one popular theory that this was non a self-destruction, but instead a mass slaying organized by the leaders of the motion. Subsequently on 153 organic structures were discovered in another compound belonging to the spiritual group in nearby Buhunga ( Robinson,2000 ) . Numbers do nt halt here: 155 organic structures were unearthed in a mass grave in a sugarcane field in Fr. Dominic Kataribabo s estate at Rugazi , Another 81 organic structures, including 44 kids were discovered on the farm of laic leader Joseph Nymurinda ( Robinson,2000 ) . The instance of decease in the found organic structures was hard to province ( toxicant, fighting was mentioned ) , though the organic structures were buried in one grave. Religious Tolerance organisation states that this instance is really hard analyze due to many obstructions some of which are- The country is far off the beaten path for intelligence gatherers , There are major cultural differences between newsmans and local citizens , Local forensic resources appear unequal to manage the probe . Till this twenty-four hours there is no 1 decision on which everyone would hold on. Some province that the leaders of the motion, when demanded to give back the money, killed the group members who demanded that. Others province that when the terminal of the universe did non go on the members of the motion decided to stop their lives anyways. I was believing that the group leaders may really convert them to perpetrate self-destruction, if they succeeded to convert them about the terminal of the universe. Due to the many factors which Uganda is confronting, the organic structures were non located immediately. The instance was closed without an official concluding study ; there were non adequate resources to do a trusty probe. The grounds that is presented in the articles may confront different reading. Mine was that more than 3oo people would non come in a church were the Windowss and doors are shut down, and do nil while they are being set on fire. Possibly this instance does non trul y exactly travel along with the subject ; nevertheless I thought this instance could non be left without attending and merely ignored. Commonalties It seems that all motions which led to a mass spiritual self-destruction have some facets in common. Some of which, I noticed, were a strong doctrine and reading of spiritual traditions. Either compulsively obeying the Ten Commandments or remaining pure and clean-no sex merely adopt kids ( Jim Jones ) , acts of emasculation ( Heaven s Gate ) . In add-on to that all motion had a talented leader who had a great sum of power over the group members. Furthermore, the leader seemed to hold some strong accomplishments in both public speech production and persuasion techniques. Jim Jones ( People Temple ) , who created miracles and had the power to convert people to follow his every universe. Marshall Applewhite ( Heaven s Gate ) , who came up with the thought of unisex people and the trip to spaceship- win in convincing in both. Joseph Kibweteere ( Movement for the Restoration of Ten Commandments of God ) , positive people that he had talked to Virgin Mary and she mentioned the terminal of the universe in 2000. The last two presentments seem to travel manus in manus with each other. Two of import facet for all group ends: distance of the group members from their household and taking control of groups mercenary ownerships. By insulating the group from its household members and friends the leader of the group illuminated any other beginning of information that the member could hold entree to. Finally all the members in all the groups had merely one strong, relentless and changeless beginning of information. The money issue was simple. The group leaders convinced the members to give and donate their money for the church to thrive. On the one manus people give away everything they have so no worries left. Their lone concern is the church now. On the other manus if a individual s gives off all his money for a belief system, so the doubting of that belief system decreases quickly. The component of self-destruction itself has different motive for all of the groups, tho ugh all groups, evidently, had that component in common. I believe its leaders initiative for the self-destruction to go on. First of all the political relations in the group were handled in a manner that the people had to obey, liberty was decidedly non praised in these communities. Peoples got used to follow, easy in all of these groups the thought of God was substituted with something. The message that life is the most superb gift from God was wiped off. The leader came up with the thought of self-destruction in the name of whatever, and the motion participants were so used to follow every word that even this thought was non questioned. Untitled I would wish to advert the construct of self-sacrifice in the name of the faith and how it differs from self-destruction. This portion of the universe is truly affected by the Soviet Union times. I wo nt advert all of the impacts merely the faith one. I somewhat different glimpse at the thought of giving your life off in the name of faith is offered. Soviet Union wanted its home grounds to be atheist by all agencies. In the first five old ages of the Soviet Union ( 1922-26 ) , 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were executed, and many others were persecuted ( US, Library of Congress ) . By the 1940s merely approximately 500 Russian Orthodox parishes were unfastened at that clip, compared with the estimated 54,000 that had existed before World War I ( US Library of Congress ) . Christians were wiped off from the Russian land? There are many narratives, even in our history books, were illustrations of true religion are presented. Peoples were forced to give away God, nevertheless many did non acknowledge to make that. They stayed faithful and refused to deny God s being, despite the fact that for these statements they were sent to working cantonments where most of them spent the last yearss of their lives in torment and hurting. Due to famishments and bad conditions their decease twenty-four hours appro ached much sooner than it should in normal conditions. There is no statistics for how many people really refused to accept godlessness and faced terrible effects for making that ( decease on the topographic point, life in prisons, in working cantonments ) . Can this be called mass spiritual self-destruction? Peoples knew that for their noncompliance they will confront decease in the nearest hereafter, nevertheless still went for it. There were instances when Christian took away their lives themselves in order non to give away other Christians. Is it self-sacrifice or suicide? Can these actions be called the biggest wickedness of the human being or is it the most extraordinary thing a human being can make in the name of faith? So is this simple self-destruction or an action of giving off the most cherished gift one has in order for the God s name to thrive? Decision No judgement was offered. The point was to demo how diverse this subject could be ; how many different apprehension and readings might be found. It seems that spiritual motions, slightly similar to those presented here, have really different motives when they are created. Some start as faiths dedicated to function Jesus, nevertheless, no 1 in the motion realizes or tracks how the figure of Jesus is substituted with some leader who is obsessed by power. It seems that people s religion sometimes is so blinded that they do nt truly recognize what is traveling on around them. And something that is supposed to convey joy and peace, and longer life ( it is believed that spiritual people live longer ) really turn out to be wholly the antonym. Or possibly all of the narratives presented here are merely the same as the last one? Possibly all those people did the extraordinary thing of giving their lives in the name of God? I believe God will make up ones mind. While the two chief American values are conflicting: the right to seek 1 s ain version of spiritual truth in whatever mode one chooses and the right to be free from coercion and use in the name of person else s version of spiritual truth ( USA today, 1992 ) I want to stop with God s message: You are the visible radiation of the worldaˆÂ ¦ , allow your light radiance before work forces, that they see your good workss and praise your Father in Eden ( Matthew, 5:14 ) . For I know the programs I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to thrive you and non to harm you, plans to give you hope and a hereafter ( Jeremiah 29:11 ) . This sounds like an invitation to populate a long life and avoid activities that would harm both flesh and psyche.

French Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

French Civilization - Essay Example There were movements from the east and into France due to food shortages as population increased, the new people brought in new cultures which instead of replacing existing cultures the two cultures were incorporated, Romans brought in major changes in the region which include writing. Industries also emerged which include tool making industries, weaving, pottery and milling The Chasseyan culture existed in the year 3800 BC to 2700 BC and this saw the transformation of people from predators to more settled farming and herding, the Seine Olsen Mane culture existed in the year 3500 to 1800 BC and is said to have originated from northern France and during these years it spread wide in the region, the bell beaker culture is said to have originated from Spain and was characterized by the decoration of utensils. Celts invaded the north in 725 BC and they brought in iron ploughs that helped boost agriculture, Celts also introduced hierarchical form of society where the social groups included warriors, tenants, clients and slaves. The Romans settled in Gaul and brought in major changes to existing cultures which include introduction of taxes, markets, officials, soldiers.

Bays by Rick Moody Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bays by Rick Moody - Essay Example This set of teenage voices is heard from the very beginning of the story: â€Å"Boys enter the house, boys enter the house. Boys, and with them the ideas of boys (ideas leaden, reductive, inflexible), enter the house. Boys, two of them, wound into hospital packaging, boys with infant pattern baldness, slung in the arms of parents, boys dreaming of breasts, enter the house† (Moody, p. 196). On the one hand, it may seem that the story represents as set of actions taken by boys. There is a progress of a boy’s life: from his childhood to teenage years and adult years. â€Å"The boys enter the house† and this phrase becomes an integral element of the story. Relations between two brothers are rather challenging and it is interesting for the readers to follow the development of emotional and psychological inner worlds of the boys. Boys enter the house Moreover, the author manages to catch up the emotions of boys and transfers inner peculiarities of boys with the help of apt lexical expressions. There is a masterful transfer of the boys’ emotions. It can be seen on the example the boys change their attitude to their sister: from a cruel jockeying to sympathy. She is ill with cancer and it is very hard for them to support her. We can see the importance of imagery used by Rick Moody. His masterful technique is perfectly presented to the readers, because he manages to describe the whole life span of boys and finally â€Å"boys, no longer boys, exit† (Moody, p. 199). There is an interesting style of Moody and his language techniques, though simple, are appealing for the emotions of the readers. A simplistic and naturalistic narration of Moody can be compared with the manner of Hemingway’s manner of narration. Language is used by these writers for language. In reality, Moody shows to the reader the way a person is growing up, when a person is changing with the years and enters their house as another person. Boys in the process of th eir growing up are â€Å"ghostly afterimages of younger selves, fleeting images of sneakers dashing up a staircase; soggy towels on the floor of the bathroom; blue jeans coiled like asps in the basin of the washing machine† (Moody, p. 197). The only proof, which shows a writer’s transformation, is his usage of pronouns: at first, he uses â€Å"one† then he uses â€Å"you†. From a formal approach that represents vague relations among boys to a more tolerant approach, which describes definite relations among boys and their families? A sense of energy in human lives There is a sense of transformation and a spirit of energy and motion. It seems as if Moody follows the principle of successful story writing: from the very beginning the writers choose the theme they know and write about it from different points of view and thus these writers find out something new about a chosen topic in the process of their writing. Therefore, Moody wrote about the process more than about the consequences. For him a process of growing up is a process of an individual’s transformation, it is not a set of some static episodes; a process of growing up is a dynamical process and it is very interesting to focus on the ways this process happens and an individual is being subjected to inner transformations under the influence of the world or relations with other people. Rick Moody makes literary emphasis by using repetition. This technique implies the necessity to reiterate occurrence of some images. The characters of boys reflect both

The Crimean Crisis of 2014 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Crimean Crisis of 2014 - Case Study Example Consequently, under the justification of â€Å"responsibility to protect† the Russian minorities in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in March, 2014 (Yuhas 2014). The Russian annexation of Crimea caused a massive stir on a global level and the action was condemned by majority of global leaders. The Crimean crisis has been considered as a significant global issue which has caused severe impact on relations between western world and Russia and their allies. Also, the crisis caused massive blow to economic stability in Ukraine and Russia. The clashes between the West and Russia through economic sanctions, energy politics, and political pressure have threatened the global stability and brought the world on the verge of Cold War II (Koshkin 2014). The causes of Crimean crisis can be traced in current global politics and contested perceptions of the state identity in Ukrainian society. The purpose of this case study is to investigate the Crimean crisis of 2014. By means of various researches and available reports, the paper will examine the root causes of crisis and its impact on various groups. The paper will also present potential solutions in order to abate the negative effects of the crisis. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, internationally recognized as a part of Ukraine, is situated on a peninsula which has spread between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea with Russian border to its east (BBC Monitoring 2014). In the late 2013, Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych faced a choice when the country was moving towards economic crisis. He could select a long-term, but initially troublesome deal with the EU to boost trade and integration, or he could secure a $15 billion loan from Russia and join the Eurasian Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus (Woehrel 2014, p. 1-2). After continuous

History For Aircraft Investigation Aviation

History For Aircraft Investigation Aviation Flying is generally a safe and fast method of transportation, but accidents always happen whether through human error, mechanical failure, or criminal activity. Over the last two decades, there have been many fatal aircraft accidents per year worldwide. These, and lesser accidents, have to be investigated scientifically in order to gain important lessons about aircraft performance and safety. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires that a civil aircraft accident be investigated by an independent body belonging to the country where the accident took place. Each country has its own organization taking responsibility for this: in the United States, it is theNational Transportation Safety Board(NTSB); in the United Kingdom, it is the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and in Malaysia it is the Department of Civil Aviation. The purpose of the investigation is to find out why the accident happened and how similar events might be avoided in the future, rather than to apportion blame. The police will be involved in the investigation if sabotage or some other form of criminal activity is suspected, and the military generally looks into accidents involving service aircraft. My research is about the air disaster investigation procedure for Malaysia on the matter of the procedure step, incident statistic, comparison between the Malaysian investigation procedures with other region. History for aircraft investigation The procedures for air accident investigations were first laid down in 1928 by the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. They required air accident investigators to consider the immediate and underlying factors of an accident in order to establish and apportion blame for its occurrence. A credit system was put in place that weighted causal factors according to their overall culpability for example, an accident could be regarded 70% the result of pilot error and 30% the result of environmental factors.( New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association, 2009) In 1944 the Chicago Convention drafted a set of procedures and processes to govern the burgeoning international civil aviation industry. Included in these procedures were rules concerning the responsibilities of contracting states in the event of an aviation accident on their soil. These standards and recommended practices were developed by the Accident Investigation Division between February 1946 and February 1947, and were later designated as Annex 13 of the convention. The convention allowed states to generate their own rules for accident investigation, so as long as the core practices of Annex 13 were incorporated and investigative practices aligned with ICAO Doc 9620, the Manual of Aircraft Accident Investigation.( New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association, 2009) The primary focus of Annex 13 differed from that of the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1928: it was no longer to find fault and apportion blame for an aircraft accident, but to provide a mechanism by which participants in the industry pilots, aircraft manufacturers and regulatory agencies could learn from their mistakes.( New Zealand Air Line Pilots Association, 2009) Accident Trend In recent years, progress and development in science and technology have made dramatic contributions to human society. However, these same development have given rise to many new type of dangers, and a massive increase in loses that would have been in conceivable in the past. (Masako Miyagi, 2005) This trend is by no means an indication of carelessness on the part of the individuals involved: rather, it could be considered an indication that the methods used to implement traditional safety measures in the past have reached a limit of effectiveness. This is because the most basic safety measures taken in the past were limited to reprimands and punishments targeting the person responsible for the accidents, and improvements to mechanical aspects stemming from the result of accident investigations. Such accident investigations placed an emphasis on technical analysis of events in accidents that had already occurred, and for this reason there is no question that they contributed to a sharing of important information regarding the mechanical aspects of these accidents, that this information was put to use in making improvements, and that significant results were archived through this process. (Masako Miyagi, 2005) Human beings are able to develop and increase their abilities to some extent through education and training. The fact remain, however, that it is extremely difficult to obtain the information on human aspects of accidents that would be required to implement such training, because the people most directly involved may have been killed in the accident, or may be reluctant to come forward for fear of being held responsible. There are definitive limitations to approach described above even if all the relevant information in obtained; namely that when studied are made into accident prevention measures based on accident investigations, the investigations can only begin after the accident has occurred. Furthermore, the improvement measure based on accident investigations will only be of value in preventing the re-occurrence of accidents that are identical to those on which the measures were originally based. (Masako Miyagi, 2005) Graf below showed that, by years to years, more accident happen because of human carelessness rather than mechanical failure. By times go by the percentage being increasing. Graft 1.1(Masako Miyagi) Boeing`s statistical summary There are several reliable sources of accident data. One of the most easily accessible accident databases is maintained by Boeing, which publishes an annual Statistical Summary of commercial Jet Airplane Accident. Another good sources document is the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Safety Board Record(Jet), also published annually.( Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues, 2004) Hull losses were also analyzed according to the phase of flight in which they occurred (Graft 1.2). After the combined approach and lading phases, the next greatest numbers hull-loss accident occurred in the combined phases from landing through initial climb. Cruise, which accounts for about__ of flight time in a 1.5 hour flight, occasioned only 6% of hull-loss accidents.( Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues, 2005) The summary also considered primary cause factor for commercial operations hull-loss accidents for the period 1990-1999(Graft1.3). For accidents with known causes, flight crew were considered the primary cause in most 67% over the 10 years periods.( Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues, 2005) Graft 1.2 Phase of flight in hull-loss accident, all aircraft, worldwide commercial jet fleet (1990-1999) (Boieng commercial airplanes Group) Graft 1.3 Primary causes factors (as determined by the investigating authority) in hull-loss accidents, all aircraft, worldwide commercial Jet fleet(1990-1999)(Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group) Chart below showed about accident categorizes by airplane generation for the period 1990-1999 (Table 1.1). Most accidents occurred on landing, with 157 out of 385 for the 10-years period. Interestingly, most landing accident involved current generation aircraft. (Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues, 2005) Type of incidentGeneration First Second Early Widebody Current total Controlled flight into terrain 5 17 3 11 36 Loss of control 8 7 2 12 30 Midair Collision 1 1 2 In-Flight fire 1 2 1 1 5 Fuel tank explosion 1 1 2 off end on landing 7 17 3 22 49 Off side on Landing 3 20 3 11 37 hard landing 3 15 5 32 55 Landed short 4 9 1 2 16 Gear collapse/fail/up 8 8 2 13 31 Ice/snow 3 3 6 Fuel management/exhaustion 2 4 1 7 Windshear 1 1 1 3 Takeoff configuration 1 1 1 3 Off side on takeoff 1 1 3 3 8 Runway Incursion vehicle/people 5 1 10 16 Wing strike 2 2 Engine Failure/Separation 3 2 4 1 10 Ground collision 2 2 6 10 Ground Crew injury 3 2 2 7 Boarding/deboarding 2 2 4 Turbulance fatality 1 1 1 3 Miscellaneous 1 2 2 3 8 Fire on ground 1 2 3 2 8 aircraft structure 2 2 2 6 Unknown 1 3 3 7 Refused take-off end 3 6 3 2 14 Total 54 134 49 148 385 Table 1.1 Accident categorizes by airplane generation for the period 1990-1999 (Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues,2005) *Miscellaneous Accidents -Coffee Maker Explosion -Fuel spill -Instrument error -Hypoxia -Jet blast -Pilot incapacitated -Taxied across ditch -Window fail -Tailstrike/RTO -other (Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues) Graft 1.4 Accident categorizes by airplane generation for the period 1990-1999 (Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues) Generation Aircraft Type First Comet 4, 707/720,DC-8,CV-880/-990,Caravelle Second 727,trident VC-10,BAC 1-11,DC-9,737-100/200,F-28 Early widebody -100/-200/-300/SP, DC-10,L-1011,A300 Current MD-80,767,757,A310,Bae 146, A300-600, 737-300/-400/-500,F-100,A320/310/321, 747-400,MD-11,A340,MD-90,777,737NG,717 Table 1.2 Aircraft by generation (Alexander T.Wells and Clarence C.Rodrigues) Graft 1.5 Accident Categories by airplane generation, all accidents, worldwide commercial jet operations. (1990-1999).(Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group) 1.2 Problem definition The problem with the current situation is, even thought so many precaution have been make, but air disaster still happen. Is there any way to prevent this disaster to happen? Each country had theirs own investigation team. But after the investigation, still have some aircraft that crash and involve a mass casualty. This research will study about the limitation of the investigation body if there is an air crash or air disasters occur in or outside of the investigation body region. 1.3 Objectives of research The main objectives of this thesis are to make a research upon the investigation procedure and type of accident happen in Malaysia and throughout the world. These are several more objectives of the project: Compare the investigation procedure between America and Malaysia. To understand the concept of how the air disaster investigation procedure. To prove that aircraft investigation can reduce air disaster. Making a survey about the awareness of the investigation procedures. To know the party that involved in board of investigation rules and regulation in Malaysia 1.4 Research scope This thesis will go through the ICAO annex 13, Aircraft Investigation Procedure Manual and MCAR Part 12 to study the exact procedure of the Aircraft Investigation Procedures. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction The Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a specialized aviation department within the United Nations. ICAO Annex 13 defines and directs requirements forAircraft Accident and Incident Investigationprocedures. As a result most nations or consortium of nations have some form of air regulating body which subsequently contains an investigation division. Unfortunately not all agencies are created equally and national differences exist which influencefactual results in accident investigation. Six areas have been presented as a hindrance to proper investigative techniques in a paper by Dr. Horacio A. Larrosa of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI)Accident and Incident procedures in Argentina MO4131. Expertise and Experience Investigative Budgets Political and Religious Influence and Beliefs Nepotism and Cronyism Dedication and Desire National Pride or Prejudice 2.2 Internationally Respected Players 2.2.1 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families. The NTSB investigates accidents, conducts safety studies, evaluates the effectiveness of other government agencies programs for preventing transportation accidents, and reviews the appeals of enforcement actions involving aviation and mariner certificates issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), as well as the appeals of civil penalty actions taken by the FAA.(NTSB,2002) To help prevent accidents, the NTSB develops safety recommendations based on our investigations and studies. These are issued to federal, state, and local government agencies and to industry and other organizations in a position to improve transportation safety. Recommendations are the focal point of the NTSBs efforts to improve the safety of the nations transportation system. (NTSB,2002) NTSB Mission: To promote transportation safety by maintaining our congressionally mandated independence and objectivity; conducting objective, precise accident investigations and safety studies; performing fair and objective airman and mariner certification appeals; and advocating and promoting safety recommendation. And to assist victims of transportation accidents and their families. 2.2.2 European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) European Aviation Safety Agency has been the cornerstone of the European Unions aviation safety programs for years; however, accident investigation has been the jurisdiction of each individual member state. In 2009 the EU outlinedthe requirementsto establish a â€Å"better and more uniform quality of accident investigations across the EU.† It will establish the rules for accident investigation for all states controlled by a central EU body in the near future. (EASA,2011) The EASA has become the competent Community Aviation Authority for the safety of aviation underBasic Regulation 1592/2002; thus, it may be the recipient of safety recommendations related to the areas of its responsibilities. Furthermore, ICAO Annex 13 provides that the State of Design and the State of Manufacture shall each be entitled to appoint an accredited representative because of the function that have been attributed to each of those States with respect to the airworthiness of aircraft under Annex 8. Therefore, as the EASA is now in charge of the airworthiness, is shall be represented in Safety investigation in order to fulfil its obligation.(EASA,2011) Under both, international and community law, all safety recommendations must be taken into full consideration by the entity to which they are addressed. In addition, in the preamble of theBasic Regulation 1592/2002it is stated that the results of the accident investigations should be acted upon by the EASA, as a matter of urgency in particular when, they relate to defective aircraft design or operational matters. ( EASA,2011) To successfully discharge its responsibilities in this area, the EASA has included in its organ gram an Accident Investigation Section. It is responsible for the follow-up of occurrences where the Safety has been endangered. (EASA,2011) Its main devoted tasks are: To follow the progress of aircraft accidents and incidents investigations, To be represented in investigations and collect information related to occurrences, To achieve the processing of Safety Recommendations addressed to the Agency, To provide progress reports and statistics on the Safety Recommendations processing, To maintain a good coordination with European Accident Investigation Bodies, To identify safety deficiencies and disseminate related information. 2.2.3 The European Three (E3) The European Three are combination of the safety bureau in Europe, there are the Air Accidents Investigation Branch ( AAIB) of England, French Air Accident Investigation Bureau ( BEA France) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB Switzerland) are recognized as world leaders in several accident investigation areas. Not only do they aid nations of the EU in investigations but also non EU nations that have accidents involving aircraft manufactured in Europe, European registered aircraft, accidents occurring in any nation that was a colony of one of the EU member states and any nations requesting help. 2.2.4 Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) Australian Transport Safety Bureau has gained a reputation as Oceana and Asias air accident investigating body. They are investigators in most of the small island nations of the South and Central Pacific or whenever requested by other nations. Australias development as a nation through the twentieth century was closely linked to the development of the aviation industry. This industry has helped us overcome vast internal distances and geographical isolation from the rest of the world.(ATSB, 2011) The ATSB is responsible for the independent investigation of accidents and incidents involving civil aircraft in Australia. The ATSBs primary focus for its investigations is fare-paying passenger operations. However, all accidents and incidents related to flight safety in Australia or involving Australian registered aircraft overseas must be reported to the ATSB. While the ATSB does not investigate all of these, it still needs to be notified so that the data can be recorded for possible future safety research and analysis. (ATSB,2011) 2.2.5 Transportation Safety Board of Canada The Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (TSB) has emerged as the leader in South and Central America. Similar to Australia the small population nation that is home to ICAO, works in close coordination with the larger NTSB in the USA. However, viewed as an alternative to Washington many Latin American nations work directly with Canada out of desire, security or necessity.(TSB, 2010) Summaries Most nations have the required ICAO investigative agencies but the variations between countries are still very strong. The positive factor for international accident investigation is that many investigators within these nations are willing to call upon each other and aid their work. Working together in the vast majority of air accidents, the public has a good chance of obtaining the truth about accidents within their borders. 2.3 Definition: Before going through a little further, these are some definition that being use in the investigation for any accident or incident that happen. All definition are taken from ICAO , 2001, Annex 13, MCAR part 12 and NTSB 2002, Aircraft accident Investigation Manual. 2.3.1 Aircraft Accident An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured as a result of being in the aircraft or direct contact with any part of the aircraft, including parts which have become detached from the aircraft, or direct exposure to jet blast. The aircraft sustains damage or structural failure which is adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics of the aircraft, or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. 2.3.2 Aircraft Incident An occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft which affects or could affect the safety of operation. Serious incident An incident involving circumstances indicating that an accident nearly occurred. 2.3.3 Investigation A process conducted for the purpose of accident prevention which includes the gathering and analysis of information, the drawing of conclusions, including the determination of causes and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations. 2.3.4 Investigator in charge A person charged, on the basis of his or her qualifications, with the responsibility for the organization, conduct and control of an investigation. 2.3.5 Chief Inspector The Chief inspector of Air Accidents and includes any deputy chief inspector; 2.3.6 Inspector Aperson appointed as an Inspector of Air Accidents 2.3.7 Field Investigation An investigation which is not intended to be the subject of a report by an Inspector to the Minister. 2.3.8 Formal Investigation An investigation which is intended tobe the subject of a report by an Inspector to the Minister. 2.3.9 Serious Injury An injury which is sustained by a person in a reportable accident and which: Requires his stay in hospital for more than forty-eight hours commencing within seven days from the date on which the injury is received results in a fracture of any bone except simple fractures of fingers, toes or nose. involves lacerations which cause severe nerve, muscle or tendon damage involves injury to any internal organ; or involves second or third degree burns or any burns affecting more than five per centum of the surface of the body. 2.3.10 Aircraft. Any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air other than the reactions of the air against the earths surface. 2.3.11 Causes. Actions, omissions, events, conditions, or a combination thereof, which led to the accident or incident. 2.3.12 Flight recorder. Any type of recorder installed in the aircraft for the purpose of complementing accident/incident investigation. 2.3.13 Maximum mass. Maximum certificated take-off mass. 2.3.14 Operator. A person, organization or enterprise engaged in or offering to engage in an aircraft operation 2.3.15 Preliminary Report. The communication used for the prompt dissemination of data obtained during the early stages of the investigation. 2.3.16 Safety recommendation. A proposal of the accident investigation authority of the State conducting the investigation, based on information derived from the investigation, made with the intention of preventing accidents or incidents. 2.3.17 State of Design. The State having jurisdiction over the organization responsible for the type design 2.3.18 State of Manufacture. The State having jurisdiction over the organization responsible for the final assembly of the aircraft 2.3.19 State of Occurrence. The State in the territory of which an accident or incident occurs. 2.3.20 State of the Operator. The State in which the operators principal place of business is located or, if there is no such place of business, the operators permanent residence. 2.3.21 State of Registry. The State on whose register the aircraft is entered. 2.4 Investigation Responsibility for Instituting and Conducting the investigation.( ICAO , 2001) 2.4.1 Accidents or incidents in the territory of a contracting state. State of Occurrence The State of Occurrence shall institute an investigation into the circumstances of the accident and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation, but it may delegate the whole or any part of the conducting of such investigation to another State by mutual arrangement and

The Global Eradication of Polio Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research P

The Global Eradication of Polio    The possibility of the eradication of polio worldwide is an imminent and exciting prospect as the "goal" year quickly approaches. In 1988, the World Health Assembly, which governs the World Health Organization, set the goal of eliminating polio from the world by the year 2010. Many organizations have joined the effort along with the World Health Organization: the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, Rotary International, Global Health Network, the US Agency for International Development, National Immunization Day, and the International Broadcasting Bureau. Together, these "worldwide polio partners" have implemented a strategy to completely rid the world of this disease. It is a difficult task, one which must be thorough and all-encompassing, covering all people in all countries, even those industrialized countries such as the United States where polio has already been successfully eliminated (Reuters 1998). The disease poliomyelitis is caused by "three serotypes of poliovirus" (Prevots 1999). It can manifest itself with a range of characteristics, from flu-like symptoms such as fever, headaches, vomiting, fatigue, constipation, pain in the limbs and stiffness in the neck, to various levels of paralysis, and death. Poliovirus can be passed along from person to person through fecal-oral transmission, and any contaminated object can spread the virus. This is why polio is prevalent today in areas with very poor sanitation. Another source of transmission in any environment is the young children in diapers. The World Health Organization states: * The disease circulates "silently" at first, and may infect hundreds of people, depending on the level of sanitation, before the first c... ...e year 2010 is not achieved.    WORKS CITED "The Beginning of the End: Target 2010. The World Without Polio." World Health Organization. 1999. "Five Steps to Ridding the World of Polio. Rotary International. 1999. Prevots, Rebecca D., PhD, MPH. et al. Chapter X from the Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Poliomyelitis (CDC). Stemrich Associates: 1999. Sharma, Ashok. "India Unlikely to Eradicate Polio by 2010." Associated Press. January 1999. "Worldwide Eradication of Polio by 2010 Still Possible." Reuters. September 1998.

BBC †Time Essay

Time is important. Whether I like to say or not, people don’t treat time important, many people wasting their time unconsciously. They spend time on facebook, online games, watching tv. But they never know there are some more important things are waiting for them Everyone has to live for a purpose. Once you set a goal, your life will be a lot more appreciate. Understand yourself about what do you want and how do you want to live, you will cherish a lot around you including people and spending time with them. Time is important. Whether I like to say or not, people don’t treat time important, many people wasting their time unconsciously. They spend time on facebook, online games, watching tv. But they never know there are some more important things are waiting for them Everyone has to live for a purpose. Once you set a goal, your life will be a lot more appreciate. Understand yourself about what do you want and how do you want to live, you will cherish a lot around you including people and spending time with them. Time is important. Whether I like to say or not, people don’t treat time important, many people wasting their time unconsciously. They spend time on facebook, online games, watching tv. But they never know there are some more important things are waiting for them Everyone has to live for a purpose. Once you set a goal, your life will be a lot more appreciate. Understand yourself about what do you want and how do you want to live, you will cherish a lot around you including people and spending time with them.

Matthew’s Use of the Old Testament Scripture Essays

Matthew’s Use of the Old Testament Scripture Essays Matthew’s Use of the Old Testament Scripture Essay Matthew’s Use of the Old Testament Scripture Essay Matthew wrote his gospel with two purposes in mind: first, he wanted to prove that Jesus was the promised coming King-Messiah of the Old Testament, and second, he wanted to explain to his readers the kingdom program of God. The issues involved in the person of the Messiah are many during Matthew’s time. He had to deal with those concerns immediately in order for him to be able to prove his point beyond reasonable doubt (Constable 55).For one thing, the long-awaited Messiah had to be without question from the lineage of Abraham, and that, Matthew was able to establish in the very first chapter of his gospel. He not only had verified that Jesus came as a descendant of Abraham and therefore a bonafide Jew, but substantiated as well in the first chapter of his gospel, that Jesus also had descended from the ancestry of King David to show that Jesus was the Son of David, the coming King who would rule like David to restore Israel’s Golden Years under t he reign of David’s descendant who is the Messiah (Escalona 2). Jesus, according to Matthew, has fulfilled through the testimony of His background and life the requirements that would support the conclusion that He was indeed the promised Messiah and King (Walvoord 12).These points were very important to emphasize, so Matthew started right away with these very aims in mind. With these understanding, the modern-day readers will be better off intellectually, as they approach the book of Matthew. The problems posed by Matthew chapter 1 would immediately be eliminated such as the question of â€Å"Why the drudgery of mentioning names (mostly unknown) all the way back to Abraham?† It may bear no relevance for people today, but for those people to whom Matthew was directing his message, the identity of Jesus – as far as his pedigree was concerned – was of utmost importance (Family Bible Notes 1). The Messiah had to be first of all a descendant of Abraham and of David. And the only thing that could possibly remove this doubt from the minds of his readers was an established proof of Jesus’ Abrahamic and Davidic lineages – which of course Matthew had established very well (Geneva Bible Notes 1).DiscussionThis paper deals with responding to the inquirer’s mind concerning Matthew’s use of the Old Testament. Its position is to establish first the Messiahship of Jesus as seen in the eyes of the apostle Matthew and then lengthily discuss the kingdom agendum or program of God.I. Jesus: The King-MessiahAnother way that Matthew has employed was his heavy use of the Old Testament scriptures – particularly, prophecies. In chapter two, specific fulfilments of prophetic pronouncements were fulfilled as to certain places and events. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which according to the writer was a specific fulfilment of prophetic scripture (Barnes 2).   When Herod asked the chief priests and scribes where the Christ/Me ssiah would be born,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: But   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel’.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Applications like these of certain Old Testament scriptures are notable in all of the four gospels. They relied a great deal on prophecies, and therefore their frequent references to them further concretized the fact of Jesus’ identity. In all four gospels, different aspects of the Christ’s Person were explored and thus, by the time the inquirer has finished reading all of the gospels, there have to be no more questions left. In fact, even one of the gospels is enough to convince anybody of the Messiah’s identity (John 20:31) (Teacher’s Commentary 2).Matthew’s gospel is sufficient to present to its audience Jesus as their long-expected Savior. All of the circumstances surrounding His birth and childhood were clear realizations of Hebraic predictions. In Matthew chapters 3 – 4, Jesus’ royalty is presented. John the baptizer is here also introduced and for the said purpose – to introduce to Israel her King. During those times, it was customary for VIP’s or very important persons to have emissaries who would go before them to make preparations for their arrivals. Emissaries or forerunners would go and announce to designated destinations the royalty’s impending visit. Included to their task is to make sure that the place was in good condition to host the king. When there needs to be some repairs on infrastructure, sometimes those forerunners would go to such extent as do the work of â€Å"smoothing the highway† through which the k ing would take to reach his destination (Constable 56).John the baptizer prepared Jesus’ way and also proclaimed Him as a very important figure in that He was the most awaited person of the times – the coming King. When John announced that the kingdom of God was â€Å"at hand,† what he meant was that all or everything that were needed for the kingdom to be established among them (Israel) was to accept their King in Jesus. They rejected Him though. It was necessary for the predicted Messiah to be crucified for many Old Testament prophecies to be fulfilled (Psalms 22, Isaiah 53, Daniel 9, Zechariah 13). In Matthew 3:3, the writer identified God with Jesus as he quoted Isaiah 40:3. This clearly means that Jesus’ kingdom is also the kingdom of God. The two are not different but the same. This quote from Isaiah proves that Jesus is not a mere representative of God but more than a representative. Matthew’s point was Jesus is LORD. He makes his point very vivid by quoting from many passages over and over from the Old Testament (Constable 55).Again, in Matthew 3:16-17, the narrative pointed to the fact that at that juncture of Jesus’ life (and it was before He started His ministry), the Holy Spirit anointed Him. This event denotes that Jesus as a man would be reliant to the power of the Spirit as also the Scripture has attested in Isaiah 42:1. Of course, at the very start of His life, He was already filled with the Spirit. He was even conceived through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). The descent of the Holy Spirit at His baptism stresses the fact that Jesus would be accomplishing His messianic ministry totally dependent on the Spirit’s power. It specifies a point for understanding that Jesus’ authority through which He discharges His ministry was through the Spirit. Hence, empowered by the Spirit, Jesus acted as the instrument of God and spoke as God’s mouthpiece. The term â€Å"Son of God† was very familiar in the prophetic writings. It was used frequently to identify David’s descendant who would come after him to occupy his throne to become Israel’s king (2 Samuel 7:13-14, Psalms 2:7, 89:26-29). God’s approval and commendation of Jesus were both linked to the aspect of the Messiah’s work of saving His people from their sins as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42 53). â€Å"Son of God† is a messianic title (Clarke 1).II. God’s Kingdom ProgramThe first nine chapters of Matthew seemed to have shown not only the background of Jesus’ identity but also the pathetic condition of humanity as represented by those multitudes that followed Him. Thus, at this point, Matthew proceeded to lay out the program of the Kingdom of God. First, there is the need for workers in the field (Matthew 9:37-38). Jesus is shown here as one moved with compassion for the multitudes. It recalls for the readers the fact of God’s compassionate heart for H is people. In the book of Ezekiel 34, God is described as the true Shepherd of His people, whose compassion would not allow for His people to be taken advantaged of. The word â€Å"weary† is translated â€Å"distressed† (NASB) and â€Å"harassed† (NIV) in other translations of the Bible. These descriptions vividly depict the people of God – the Jews – as being intimidated and oppressed by their leaders. The people needed deliverance and there was no one able to deliver them. They’re as sheep without a shepherd (Constable 56).The Old Testament is replete with a description of God and the coming Messiah as the shepherds of His people. At this point in time (Matthew 9), Matthew presented the agenda or program of God for His kingdom. Jesus needed workers to continue on with the work which He has started (Barnes, 2001). There needs to be workers who would serve as workers for God’s harvest. But, first of all, the workers for the harvest mu st be sent by God. Therefore Jesus commands prayer. â€Å"Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.† This is similar to what Apostle Paul has stated in his epistle to the Romans, â€Å"And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’† (Romans 10:15). Only at this juncture that the twelve disciples of Jesus are called apostles (Matthew 10:1). He chose the twelve probably to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The people who have spiritual sensitivity at that time must have detected that at Jesus’ appointment of the twelve He was launching them to execute His messianic programme (Barnes, 2001). The apostles were the first â€Å"sent out† ones. Although the title was exclusively theirs, they’re told by their Master to still pray for workers. During the time of the original apostles, God was continually hearing their prayers to send â€Å"workers† for the harvest. There was Barnabas (Acts 14:4), and Paul himself was designated as apostle and received his commission from Jesus directly. The primary agenda of the kingdom was to reach everyone in Israel with the message of the kingdom. Although the message had to be first proclaimed in Israel, it was to be later on extended to â€Å"all the nations† (Constable 56).Since the work had to be taken by them to all the â€Å"lost sheep of Israel,† and eventually to the â€Å"nations,† the Master foresaw its accompanying need in the part of the messengers. â€Å"And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his foo d† (Matthew 10:7-10). The nature of the work is extensive; they had to â€Å"teach† their converts â€Å"to observe all things† that Christ had taught them. The kind of work that God calls His servants to is definitely a kind of work which proves as well what kind of â€Å"Lord† He is: that He is an excellent Master, able to see (â€Å"the God Who sees†) the needs of His servants or followers before they even feel the need. This means that when an individual becomes a partaker of Himself He also has become a partaker of all His benefits (Teacher’s Commentary 2).Men who become Jesus’ followers must be taught to know concerning things that are God’s or what are called divine things. Not only will they benefit best when they know what the things that are God’s, they also become instructors fit to impart the goodness and the mind of God. In addition, they are promised that what are needed will be sufficiently met and thus the ir own experiences of God’s faithful attention the promises He made to His followers, both spiritual and material needs. The servants of God then, are enjoined to be faithful as well to be able to deliver His message in adherence to the rightful message as Jesus taught and delivered as well to the apostles, the first Christians and the succeeding generations of faithful believers of the gospel (Clarke 1).Doubters and unbelievers look with disdain, cynicism and scorn when the discussion revolves around these words of Jesus and the gospel. When the faithful talk about the promises that the Old Testament Scripture holds out for the people and these Jesus reinforced as well in the New Testament, they see only myth, and delusions on the part of the believers (Robertson’s NT Word Pictures, 2001). That is because they don’t have the eyes of faith, nor were instructed of the thousands of year’s proof of the veracity of the Bible, and have not experienced the trut h and reality of these Scriptures in their lives. The effectivity of Matthew’s work is found in the millions of followers who had tested Jesus’ Messiahship not only in their spiritual faith but in the totality of their finite experience (Clarke 2).In conclusion, Matthew not only and merely was acting as an evangelist-historian, but as biographer par excellence, whose work was without a blend of his own opinion or views, which has undoubtedly established its internal credibility in the gospel itself. Other apostles like Paul, did not have to add anything to what Matthew said or wrote, but enlarged on what this gospel writer witnessed and chronicled in his experiences with Christ.

Vietnam Economic Issues In the New Stage

Vietnam Economic Issues In the New Stage Free Online Research Papers During the past years, Vietnam economy has made a number of significant achievements. Since the beginning of the cause of renovation (Doi Moi) initiated by the Communist Party, the country’s state has changed substantially compared to the period of pre-renovation. The economy has recorded high growth rates for several years in a row. People’s living standards have been considerably improved. Since the market opening-up, the number of foreign investors rushing to Vietnam has risen surprisingly, resulting in a huge increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In 2006, Vietnam has successfully fulfilled and exceeded almost all development targets set by the National Assembly. The economic growth rate is 8.17%; that of industry is 17%; the service sector has posted a high development rate, especially retail industry; high export value has been maintained, reaching $ 39.6 billion; there has been a reduction in trade deficit in terms of net value and proportion of import and export. FDI and ODA attraction remains strong. Vietnam’s accession to WTO and hosting of APEC demonstrate successful diplomatic and economic activities. The approval of the Permanent Normal Trade Relation by the US Congress is an evidence of Vietnam’s increasing importance in the world stage. The development of Vietnam’s Stock Exchange with its vibrant activities in recent months is also a positive sign to some extent. All of those accomplishments prove that the country is initially integrating into the world economy successfully. However, Vietnam’s continuous high growth rates for many years raise a question over the viability of the development. Could the economy maintain such a vigorous development in the coming years ? Or heating development will be followed by a severe collapse due to implicit problems ? This document is to be divided into three sections to discuss the economic issues of Vietnam economy in the stage of integration and globalization. Part 1: Vietnam economy at a glance. Part 2: Vietnam economic issues assessment. Part 3: Solutions to the issues. TABLE OF CONTENT A. OVERVIEW OF VIETNAM ECONOMY OVER THE PAST YEARS. 3 1. Domestic policy. 3 2. Foreign trade and international economic integration: 5 3. Foreign Direct Investment: 6 B. ASSESSMENT OF VIETNAM ECONOMIC ISSUES IN THE NEW STAGE. 7 1. Corruption and bureaucracy. 7 2. Economic structure. 10 a. By sectors. 10 b. By ownership ( Equitization process ). 11 3. Human resources 13 4. Environment. 14 a. Natural Environment. 14 b. Business Environment. 16 5. Income disparity. 18 C. SOLUTIONS 19 1. Corruption and business environment. 19 2. Economic structure. 20 a. By sectors. 20 b. By ownership 21 3. Human resources. 22 4. Natural Environment. 22 5. Income disparity. 23 CONTENT A. OVERVIEW OF VIETNAM ECONOMY OVER THE PAST YEARS. 1. Domestic policy. Viet Nam embarked on the Doi Moi policy in 1986. Since then, the country has seen dramatic changes, first and foremost in the economic thinking. The centrally-planned economy was replaced by the socialist-oriented market economy; national industrialization and modernization were initiated together with the policy of multilateralization and diversification of external economic relations, opening-up and international integration. The 1987 Foreign Investment Law was the first legal document that helped form the legal framework for the Vietnamese market economy. In 1991, the Private Enterprise Law and Corporate Law were introduced. The amended 1992 Constitution affirmed the existence and development of a multi-sector economy under a market mechanism, including the foreign-invested sector. This was followed by the promulgation of a number of laws essential for the formation of the market economy, including Land Law, Tax Law, Bankruptcy Law, Environment Law, and Labour Code etc. Hundreds of ordinances and decrees were enacted by the Government to guide the implementation of these laws, which help ensure national socio-economic development. Along with the law-making process, market economy institutions have also been established. Government policy advocates the elimination the central planning mechanism, the emphasis on monetary market relations, the focus on economic management measures and the establishment of a wide range of financial institutions, banks and basic markets for money, labour, goods and land, etc. The administrative reform was also promoted by the authorities. Overall, tremendous economic reforms taking place over nearly two decades of Doi Moi have yielded encouraging results. External economic relations have been expanded and the flow of foreign direct investment has increased. Export of goods and labour, tourism industry and remittances from overseas Vietnamese have been strongly promoted to generate increasing foreign earnings for Vietnam. During 20 years of Doi Moi, GDP of Vietnam saw a sustained growth, which stood at 8.2% in 1991-1995 as compared to 3.9% in 1986-1990. This rate dropped to 7.5% in 1996-2000 due to the impacts of the Asian financial crisis. Since 2001, GDP growth recovered on a year-on-year basis, reaching 6.9%, 7%, 7.3% and 7.7% for 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively. The figure for 2005 was 8.4%. Vietnam has now succeeded in gradually replacing the centrally-planned economy, bureaucracy and a subsidy mechanism by a socialist-oriented market economy with growing dynamism. The GDP growth rate of 7 to 8% has been sustained, along with stronger industrialization and expanded integration with the world and regional economy. Vietnam has enjoyed a sharp rise in trade volume, especially exports, and an increase of foreign investment and income. The ratio of the industry and construction rose from 38.13% in 2001 to 41.03% in 2005; the service from 36.63% up to 38.08%; and only the agriculture, forestry and fishery from 23.24% to respectively. The economic structure has also witnessed significant changes. From 1990 to 2005, the contribution of agriculture sector dropped from 38.7% to 20.89% , while that of the industry and construction was up from 22.7% to 41.03% . The service sector relatively stabilized, 38.6% in 1990 and 38.08% in 2005. In each sector, the structure has also positively shifted. The agriculture sector has seen a decline in the role of agriculture and forestry from 84.4% to 77.7% during the period 1990-2003, while fishery gained a higher share. In the industrial sector, the proportion of the processing industry was up from 12.3% in 1990 to 20.8% in 2003 with improved product quality. In the service sector, the share of high-quality services such as finance, banking, insurance and tourism, etc. is increasing rapidly. Upon the amendment of the Enterprise Law in 2000, private businesses have enjoyed strong encouragement for development. This Law institutionalized the freedom of all individuals to do business in areas not prohibited by law. In the 2000-2004 period, 73,000 private enterprises were registered, up by 3.75 times against the period of 1991-1999. By 2004, the total number of private enterprises operating under the Enterprise Law amounted to 150,000 with the total capital of VND 182 billion. From 1991 to 2003, the private sector’s share in GDP was up from 3.1% to 4.1%; other non-state sectors increased from 4.4% to 4.5%; and foreign-invested sector from 6.4% to 14%; and the household sector was down from 35.9% to 31.2%. As the multi-sector economy has further developed, the proportion of SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) in GDP decreased from 40.1% in 1991 to 38.3% in 2003. The collective sector dropped from 10.2% to 7.9% during the same period. In 2002 and 2003, 1,655 SOEs were listed for reorganization and reform. The figure for 2004 and 2005 were 882 and 413 respectively. Economic growth is combined with the improvement of life quality and development of health care and education. The Human Development Index of Vietnam increased from 0.583 in 1994 with a rank of 120/174 to 108/177 in 2005. The average life expectancy was raised from around 50 in the 1960s to 70.5 at present. The poor household ratio dropped from 70% in 1980 to below 7% in 2005s. 2. Foreign trade and international economic integration: With the policy of openness and industrializtion, the country has been expoiting its inherent advatages such as abundant natural resources, low labour cost and so on, which generate an increasing flow of foreign income. Over the years of the Doi Moi process, Vietnams export growth has averaged 20%. From around US$ half a million before the introduction of the Doi Moi policy, the total export volume of Vietnam reached US$ 26 billion in 2004 and US$32.23 billion in 2005. The structure of exports has also seen a positive change. During the 1991-1995 period, major exports of Vietnam were crude oil, fishery products, rice, textiles, coffee, forestry products, rubber, peanut and cashew nuts. By 2005, apart from crude oil, textiles, rice and coffee, Vietnam was mainly exporting garment and textile, footwear, seafood, woodwork, electronics appliances, and rice. This structure reflects an increase in processing and manufactured products and a decline in unprocessed products, including agricultural, fishery, forestry products and minerals. The policy of multilateralization and diversification of international relations has helped Vietnam integrate more deeply into the world and regional economy. Before 1990, Vietnam had trade relations with only 40 partners. Now with the foreign policy of openness, which is to be friend and cooperate with all countries in the world on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 167 countries, and has signed multilateral and bilateral trade agreements with over 80 nations. The country has been granted MFN (Most Favored Nation) status by more than 70 countries and territories, including countries and regions with large capital resources, high technologies and vast markets, such as the United States, Japan, the EU and newly industrialized countries in East Asia. Following the introduction of Doi Moi, Vietnam signed an economic and trade cooperation agreement with the EU in 1992, joined ASEAN in 1995, AFTA in 1996 and APEC in 1998. Vietnam also signed the Bilateral Trade Agreement with the United States in 2000. Vietnam started negotiations for WTO accession in 1995 and has just got the full membership of this organization by the end of 2006. 3. Foreign Direct Investment: In December 1987, the Foreign Direct Investment Law of Vietnam was introduced to help form the basic legal framework for foreign investment activities in Vietnam. To better respond to business requirements and feedback from foreign investors, this Law was amended and supplemented several times, notably in 1996 and 2002, which created a more open and attractive environment to draw foreign investors into crucial industries such as export-oriented processing and manufacturing, and key economic zones of the country. In recent years and especially in 2005, the Vietnamese Government made a number of adjustments and conducted reforms to create more incentives for foreign investors. They are now supported in tackling business obstacles. The Law on Personal Income Tax has been amended in favour of the tax payers. The one-stop-shop policy has been promoted, telecommunication tariffs lowered to gain competitiveness over other countries in the region. Infrastructure has been improved. More areas, including those previously closed to foreign investors, such as telecommunication, insurance and supermarkets, etc. are now open to investment. As such, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investment. The above measures resulted in recovery and rapid increase of the FDI inflows in 2005. The sharp rise of FDI is also attributed to political, economic and security stability, high economic growth rate, continuation of economic reform in accordance with market economy principles, improved living standards leading to higher domestic demand, greater international integration and the emergence in the international market of Vietnamese trademarks and Vietnam’s growing reputation. Over the past years, Vietnam has drawn increasing inflows of FDI. From a negligible figure of 1986, FDI into Vietnam reached US$ 3.2 billion in 1997. Due to the negative impacts of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the FDI flow then saw a drop during 1998-2000 period, with only US$ 1.58 billion in 1999. In the past few years, Vietnam has enjoyed a recovery of FDI, from US$ 2.6 billion in 2001 to US$ 4.1 billion in 2004. FDI not only generates profits for foreign investors but also represents a significant capital source which comes along with technology transfer as well as advanced managerial and professional skills B. ASSESSMENT OF VIETNAM ECONOMIC ISSUES IN THE NEW STAGE. Although Vietnam has seen a surge in economic development for many years, the economy still contains a number of potential unstable factors which, if not resolved in time, could lead to serious consequences in terms of not only economy but also society. Within the scope of this essay, only some prominent points are to be made as follows. ( Due to the seriousness of corruption, this issue is stripped from the investment climate one ) 1. Corruption and bureaucracy. Corruption is generally viewed as a serious problem in Vietnam. This view is shared by senior government and party officials, local and international business leaders, citizens and donors. Corruption is thought to play a significant role in the waste and inefficiency that characterize public expenditure in this still nascent transition economy. Such inefficiencies are in many cases a legacy of the former centrally planned economic system practiced prior to 1986. Centralized state management is still the norm throughout much of the economy and state owned enterprises still dominate commercial activity. Laws and regulations are often ambiguous, criminal and civil law are not separated, and considerable authority for the interpretation of laws rests with designated authorities. Both domestic and foreign businesses find that the complex and detailed nature ofpermit requirements, the opaque nature of decision-making, and the prevalent need to pay commissions and â€Å"give envelopes† are barriers to doing business. Paying commissions to influence company and administrative decisions is thought to be commonplace, including in tendering processes. Many foreign businesses which were attracted by the early reforms of the Doi Moi period (perhaps unrealistically) have now become disillusioned and are reassessing their presence in Vietnam, citing corruption and an unpredictable business environment as majorfactors. The Global Competitiveness Survey found that unclear procedures, lack of public information, bureaucratic discretion on the part of middle-level officials, and long delays were the factors which caused Vietnam to be viewed by the private sector as near last in competitiveness compared to other countries. Similarly, Transparency International ranks Vietnam as 111th in its list of 163 countries. A number of recurrent problems in the operation of the National Integrity System (NIS) can be observed across nearly all pillars. These include the following: * The government has a generally piecemeal approach to tackling corruption. Where government plans or strategies exist, it is not clear that they are being pursued systematically from one institution to the next. Moreover, few institutions featured in the NIS are adopting a systematic approach to tackling corruption in their own ranks even if they are tasked with fighting corruption elsewhere. * Whether corruption is uncovered, investigated or prosecuted – and whether it is not – is often politically motivated. That is, the politically powerful are able to escape investigation and prosecution, while allegations of corruption are often used to fight political battles. The Communist Party and government have pledged to root out corruption regardless of who is involved, but few believe that this is what happens in practice. * Institutional rivalry and jurisdictional disputes are considerable between institutions tasked with the fight against corruption. The 2005 Anti-Corruption Law allows for the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee under the prime minister, but it remains to be seen how successful it will be in coordinating the different organisations involved in the fight against corruption. * Nepotism is commonplace across all state institutions involved in the NIS despite the formal existence of merit-based appointment systems. Codes of conduct, where they exist, are poorly enforced. This is especially the case where they deal with conflicts of interest. Access to off-the-books funds is the norm. * Despite a relatively strong tradition of public consultation through mass organisations, consultation is actually quite formalistic and narrowly based. State institutions are more at home with secrecy than openness. * While internal and public complaint mechanisms exist, there is a general reluctance to use them for fear of the potential repercussions for the people who complain. There has been a small increase in formal citizen complaints directed at lower-level public officials, but the increase is marginal. Anonymity or protection for whistleblowers cannot be guaranteed. There is a sense in which the media, civil society and international organisations are potentially pushing in the same direction in terms of an increased willingness to focus on corruption and a greater commitment to government transparency. However, there is no clear alliance between them, and the role of civil society – because it is still weak – is relatively piecemeal and uncoordinated in terms of the fight against corruption. There is a wide gap between the formal rules governing the NIS and actual practices on the ground. This is commonplace across all areas of political, economic and social life in Vietnam. The reasons for the disagreements in relation to corruption have to do with the fact that political power often operates outside the law, that nepotism is widespread and that officials can be bribed relatively easily. Overlapping jurisdictions, unclear rules and weak state capacity are part of the problem, but there is a sense in which these problems are secon dary to the political and attitudinal problems cited above. The government’s existing anti-corruption strategy as reflected in the new Anti-Corruption Law is highly ambitious. Even to make limited progress in implementing the law would be for the state to significantly up its game in the fight against corruption. However, given the way in which the NIS is currently operating, it is likely to be some years before the Anti-Corruption Law is properly enforced. In the meantime, what is actually happening on the ground in terms of anti-corruption activities is much more limited but is what one would expect given the real nature of the NIS. Clearly, corruption has really become an evil which has it root deeply grafted in the society. Not only does this evil cause troubles for people in their daily lives but it also sets up obstacles for foreign investors. Just imagine that a Korean investor spent years trying to get his investment license approved but still failed. Some donors, including Sweden, Denmark and ADB, have had to bring in specialist consultants to guide them on the most strategic interventions. The World Bank even published a handbook guiding investors to cope with this fact in Vietnam. In short, maybe it is a long-lasting and daunting task, Vietnam still has to have determination to radically eradicate the evil in the new stage of integration. Otherwise, who knows ? Perhaps Vietnam economy could be hollowed to the point of a collapse. 2. Economic structure. a. By sectors. In the economy structure, agriculture sector represents a major proportion. The sector employs more than a half of Vietnam’s labor force and contributes nearly one fourth of the country’s GDP and a third of exports earnings. Despite the progress made in agricultural production and export growth, and in liberalizing commodity, land, and credit markets in recent years, rural poverty remains high (estimated at 45%), and the role of the private sector in marketing remains small. Growth in the past was the result of (i) reliance on higher input use (labor, land, fertilizer, tractors, and irrigation); (ii) policy reforms in land, markets, and trade; and (iii) high public investment, mainly in the forms of irrigation and roads. It is unlikely, however, that this strategy will be able to sustain growth in the future because (i) the potential for expansion of the rural labor force and land under cultivation is limited; (ii) new investment in irrigation exhibits decreasing marginal returns, as the stock of irrigation capital is already very high and requires increased operation and maintenance expenditure rather than new expansion; and (iii) rice export revenues are declining. Major agricultural exports of the cou ntry are generally unprocessed or semi-processed materials and low-quality produce with trivial value added. Future agricultural growth will have to come from the increasing demand for high value and value-added products. This will require a new policy environment with greater diversification of crops and value addition through processing, and shifting the focus from production volume to value. Policy reforms that promote competition, diversification, and more effective use of science and technology are required. Some of the major factors contributing to low agricultural diversification include (i) low investment in and poor effectiveness of research and extension, (ii) limited access to high quality genetic material, and (iii) limited access to financial services and market information. Although Vietnam has recently tried a lot to reduce the ratio of agriculture in the economy, the sector still accounts for quite a large part at 20.1% ( 2006 est.), employs as much as 56.8% labor force and will continue to be at the core of the economy in the next decade. Therefore, intensification and diversification to enhance the competitiveness of the industry has become a pressing task in the new stage of integration. Besides, other industries of the country are of relatively weak competitiveness with restraints in terms of technology and quality as well. Many of the must rely on unstable factors with low value added. In 2006, Vietnam’s steel industry must import as much as 70 percent of steel ingot. Meanwhile, steel ingot accounts for the major part in the value of steel. Other industries are in the same condition as well. They must import most of their semi-processed or processed production materials abroad at a high price while export their products into other countries with quite low value-added. As depending to much on the world’s market, they’re easily affected by negative changes. That’s not to mention the fact that due to obsolete technologies, their products could hardly compete with others from developed countries in some highly profitable industries. In addition, Vietnam products usually have difficulties with non-tariff barriers in these areas, for example, hygiene standard, products quality or safety, etc†¦In short, to successfully penetrating the markets of that kind is a fearful obstacles to Vietnam’s economic sectors. However, that is the inevitable trend of the economy that Vietnam must take. If the country want to survive to further develop, it has to overcome all of these barriers to integrate into the world’s economy, accepting its rules and regulations. Otherwise, it is not difficult to predict where the economy would head for. b. By ownership ( Equitization process ). Although the equitization program has been successful in transforming a large number of SOEs into more efficient enterprises, there are still many shortcomings. The pace of equitization has been slow. By early 2005, only 80% of the government target has been met; total capital of equitized SOEs accounts for only 8.2% of total state-owned capital in the economy. The remaining 92% of state-owned capital is still held by state general corporations ( SGCs 90 and 91 ) and other large SOEs that yield significant monopoly power. Furthermore, equitization process has lacked transparency and benefited political elites (i.e., government and insiders hold large chunks of the equitized firms). As a result, equitization has failed to attract investment from domestic investors and improve the management structure of equitized enterprises. There is also anecdotal evidence that public assets in equitized firms are quietly and legally transferred to private ownership because of internal and underpr iced equitization. It is reported that in 12 years of equitization (1992-2004), the total investment raised from nonstate sources is VND 12,411 billion ( US$ 0.8 billion). This amount is small when compared with the investment contributed by the domestic private sector during the same period. The Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) reports that between 1992 and 2003, around VND 190,000 billion (est. US$ 12 billion) was invested in newly registered private enterprises; US$ 9.5 billion was raised between 2000 and 2003 following the implementation of the [Private] Enterprise Law effective January 1st , 2000. Equitization has been partial. The fact that the state maintains large number of shares in equitized firms has posed several serious problems to the corporate governance of these companies and the government regulations. Similar to the situation prior to equitization, there is no clear separation between the controlling and ownership rights with respect to the state being legally defined as shareholder and, at the same time, regulator. Ownership of large blocks of shares also gives the state veto power in most important management and investment decisions, resulting in frequent particular interventions in the governance of equitized firms. At the macro level, the dual role of the state as the owner of SOEs and equitized firms and as the only regulator creates a real possibility of ( Regulatory capture is a phenomenon in which a government regulatory agency which is supposed to be acting in the public interest becomes dominated by the vested interests of the existing incumbents in th e industry that it oversees). Another serious problem is that the institutional capacity of the state agency responsible for managing state capital is very limited as it is in charge of a vast number of equitized firms. As a result, despite being a large (if not the largest) shareholder in many firms, the state is unable to exert proper management oversight. Coupled with the fact that workers usually have a very weak voice in running the company implies that managers enjoy great discretionary power, which can be easily abused to pursue private benefits. Another notable feature of Vietnamese equitization is that it has been a highly internal process. The largest chunks of shares have been held by the state and insiders (managers and workers); on average only about 15% of shares have been sold to outside investors. Out of 2224 equitized firms (as of 2005), 860 firms never sold any shares to the public. Indeed, there is a problem of information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders with respect to real and future value of equitized firms. Faced with this information asymmetry and the legal system that does not afford proper protection to minority shareholders, most people do not want to take the risk. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many equitized SOEs, especially profitable ones, have been underpriced ( as in the case of Vinamilk and Phu gia ). There are some possible explanation for this situation. For example, the value of land use rights has not been properly accounted for, valuation of equitized enterprises is the result of negotiation between the managers and the evaluation committee or the auditing firm etc†¦ Equitization has had a modest effect on the ownership structure of the economy. The overall structure of ownership in Vietnam, however, has not been substantially changed by equitization. It is projected that equitization will be completed by 2008. Meanwhile, as of February 2005, SGCs alone accounted for nearly 80% of total state capital. Three SGCs, namely Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam), Vietnam National Post and Telecommunication Corporation (VNPT), and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), account for 66% of all SGC fixed assets. This fact, reinforced by the government policy to retain control in large and strategically important equitized firms, implies that without significant improvement in the private sector, public ownership will still be the dominant form of ownership in the economy by 2008. Despite its remaining persistent shortcomings, equitization has also improved the enterprise performance. However, if Vietnam wants to take full use of its potential to further develop after the accession to WTO, it will have to improve the SOEs’ equitization process soon. 3. Human resources. For many years, it has been said that Vietnam’s â€Å"cheap labor force† is a competitive advantage. Yet, in the new stage of integration, as the country is facing the fierce competition from other country and simultaneously, becoming more developed, this advantage doesn’t bring about significant benefit as it was any more. Conversely, this fact is gradually showing weaknesses of Vietnam’s labor force in the process of industrialization and modernization. According to a survey of labor trends in 2006 in Southeast Asia by the Japan External Trade Organization, the shortage of senior managers and other qualified personnel is more acute in Vietnam than in any other ASEAN country. In fact, a shortage of engineers and managers, particularly in design and development, is common throughout the region, in stark contrast to China and India. Half of the Japanese companies in Vietnam cannot find suitably qualified engineers from the local populace and nearly 60% have only managed to recruit one or two apiece, well under the proportion in other ASEAN nations. In information technology, for instance, Vietnam has a clear advantage over the other countries in one respect – low pay – but their software writers and engineers know little or no Japanese and their technical qualifications are often below par. The same situation is a common thing in other industries which require employees who are well-trained and good at professional expertise. Another problem is the rising pay in the ASEAN countries, India and China, a trend that looks likely to continue. The problem is that the pressure for higher wages could get out of control and out an end to the advantage of low labor costs compared to the rest of the world. As it is, the advantage of inexpensive labor of the country is to substantially decline in the coming years. On the contrary, With ever more foreign companies coming to Vietnam to invest, the shortcomings of its workforce are being clearly exposed. Although an abundant supply of cheap labor can temporarily compensate for t hese shortcomings, in the long term Vietnamese employees will have to face competition from China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and such. Even in agricultural sector, the sector employs as much as 57% of the country’s labor force, productivity is still depends much on manual labor. Therefore, the efficiency is greatly constrained with low productivity. Hence, it’s reasonable that most of the poor comes from the sector. In short, in the future, the current comparative strength can’t be maintained very long any more. Instead, only skilled laborers with high productivity will become the source of stable development of the country. In conclusion, even if a country owned the most advanced technologies and abundant natural resources, without the good human resource, it couldn’t effectively tap its own potential to develop. In contrast, despite difficulties of all kind, with the capable and developed human resources, the economy could overcome any obstacles in order to sustainably progress. As for Vietnam, to reform the country’s labor force is a must so that it would successfully integrate into the world’s economy and become an Asian tiger, as many analysts note. 4. Environment. a. Natural Environment. Vietnam’s environment is under considerable stress from rapid economic growth, urbanization and rising human pressure on relatively scarce natural resources. While it has gradually improved its environmental regulatory framework, Vietnam has very limited capacity for implementation. Therefore, future rapid economic growth (an expected doubling of GDP in the next 10 years) and substantial investments in infrastructure may significantly threaten the environmental sustainability of the country’s development. Progress has been made in reforestation programs and tightening the control of illegal wildlife trade. Mechanisms for integrated river basin management are being established under the Law on Water Resources. Ministry of Natural Resource is now drafting amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection to enable new policy tools and remedies for pollution prevention and cleanup and adjustments to cover environmental management in the private sector. Despite these signs of progress, there is need for substantial improvements in the policy framework for environmental sustainability and the institutional arrangements to achieve them. Progress has been slow due to weak commitment by sectoral agencies, low awareness in local departments and officials, and capacity challenges at all levels. There is a lack of environmental integration at planning and programmatic levels, especially in the public investment planning process and in regional plans for land and resource use. In addition, awareness on the expected, negative environmental impacts of sustained economic growth, and the mechanisms for stakeholders to hold government agencies accountable for their performance is weak. Industrial production grew from 15 percent per year between 1995 and 2004, with some of the fastest growth generated by state-owned enterprises (e.g., oil and gas, electricity, and cement). These enterprises have poor environmental records due to old equipment, lack of adequate controls, and inadequate treatment of wastewater and air emissions. Many industrial pollutants have a high environmental health cost. The Government has implemented fees on wastewater pollution and introduced a Prime Ministerial Decision to reallocate, close down or adapt cleaner technologies, but these policies need to be enforced effectively. Land degradation is also a major problem, particularly in upland areas. Its major causes are insecure land tenure, poor logging practices, drought, salinization and acidification. Degraded steep slopes and deforested landscapes, especially in the northwest region, are now very susceptible to soil erosion during heavy rains. Despite recent increases in forest area, forest quality remains a concern. Closed canopy forests still make up only 13 percent of the total forest area, while poor/regenerating forests account for 55 percent. Fisheries output, which more than doubled from 1990 to 2005, is now experiencing declining rates of catch per unit effort. Rapid expansion in aquaculture activities has caused a substantial decline in mangroves and wetlands, raising concern about coastal fish yields. Coral reefs are under pressure, and more of Vietnam’s reefs are classified as at â€Å"very high risk† than in any of the eleven other countries in the Southeast Asia region. Vietnam’s surface, ground and coastal waters are threatened by pollution. Although the quality of upstream river waters is generally good, downstream sections of major rivers reveal poor water quality and most of the lakes and canals in urban areas are rapidly becoming sewage sinks. Rapid urbanization and industrialization in coastal areas, expansion in coastal tourism, and an increase in the number of oil spills are all contributing to the deterioration of coastal water quality. World Bank assistance focuses on expanding access to sanitation and wastewater treatment. Wastewater and run-off from urban areas, industrial centers, and agricultural land, pollute surface, ground, and coastal waters. Water bodies such as lakes, streams, and canals increasingly serve as sinks for domestic sewage and industrial wastes. Air quality in nearly all urban and industrial areas is affected by various pollutants, such as particulates, lead and nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide emitted by sources including vehicles, factories, power plants, and households. Sulfur dioxide levels near some factories occasionally exceed national standards by several times. Household waste collection efficiencies remain low, and there is no separate treatment for hazardous wastes. The development sustainability of a country depends largely on the environmental conditions. As the impacts of environmental pollution on the country has becoming more and more serious, it’s high time Vietnam radically carried out all possible activities on a large scale to preserve its invaluable resources for the development of next generations. If not, the wealth that the country has been proud of will definitely deplete. Then, nothing will be able to save it any more. b. Business Environment. Since the 1999 Enterprise Law took effect, the Vietnamese business environment has become more favourable. This was a breakthrough in administrative reform, which has improved the transparency and equality of the legal framework for business activities in Vietnam. Procedures for business establishment have been simplified with the removal of hundreds of unnecessary licences and legal documents, and the establishment of new legal documents, providing guidelines for business activities. The 1999 Enterprises Law and its enforcement have encouraged the development of business activities of Vietnamese and foreign individuals and organisations. The number of enterprises increased from 62,000 in 2002 to 200,000 in 2006 The Vietnamese legal systems strength is the seriousness and urgency with which it is trying to meet the development demands of the economy and match the WTO system. It is possible to say that State management has caught up with economic development. While intellectual property rights became a hot issue in Vietnam and the world, the Law on Intellectual Property was issued as a guideline for settling copyright issues. When the Vietnamese people adapted themselves to e-commerce and the stock market, the Law on E-commerce and the Law on Securities were issued. More importantly, however, two laws, which cost much strength and effort, the Unified Enterprise Law and the Common Investment Law were issued. Yet, a number of innate and serious problems do still exist in the system, making Vietnam’s business environment less attractive in the eye of many foreign investors. Despite significant improvements, problems remain in the legal environment in Vietnam, especially the existing business licence system, to which the Government is paying great attention. In 2006, many improvements in the business environment were seen. Apart from the Enterprise Law and the Investment Law which took effect, the Prime Minister took tough measures, asking relevant agencies to reform administrative procedures and apply the one-stop mechanism for transactions with people and enterprises. In fact, some localities have seen a significant progress. However, when the laws took effect, issues relating to business licences emerged. In fact, the system of licences has cost enterprises more. Therefore, it is necessary to review and remove unnecessary licences. Specifically, since the 2005 Enterprise Law was issued, issues relating to licences have heated up because under the law, business fields have conditions stipulated by other laws, ordinances and decrees. In fact, concrete c onditions are stipulated in circulars, decisions by ministries and people’scommittees at all levels with unclear conditions and times. The Vietnamese Government and relevant agencies are making efforts to filter the system of business licences to facilitate investment and business activities of enterprises in Vietnam. However, many inherent problems seems take quite a long time to resolve since their efforts are working sluggishly. Law enforcement and the tribunal system are rated very low by foreign businesses due to complicated formalities and high fees. Law enforcement takes longer time and causes delays to project implementation in Vietnam. As a result, few businesses seek dispute settlement by law and official procedures, in most cases they negotiated among themselves. Vietnam law is often without guidance for implementation. For instance, Decree 72 issued in July 2006 allowing the establishment of commercial branches. However, until now, there is no guidance for the establishment of commercial branches. No one knows for sure whether they can be established or how far they can operate. WTO protocol approved by Vietnam contains no commitment on commercial branches though Decree 72 mentions it in clear term. In spite of Vietnam’s accession to WTO several months ago, businesses are not very optimistic about the prospect of the business environment in the coming years. With WTO membership, many new laws will be promulgated and law enforcement will be slow as often happened. Furthermore, new laws will not be immediately understood and implemented causing misunderstanding and confusion. For instance, new Investment Law and Enterprise Law were approved in late 2005 and effective in July 2006, decrees for the implementation of those laws have not been issued causing some controversy. In the process of integration and globalization, no country can stay out of the trend and live well in its own niche. Since the internal resources are limited, all countries should looking for external ones to help them soundly develop. Therefore, the more investors rush to the country to do business, it means, the more capital is poured into the country, the better. Hence, efforts should be further promoted so that the business environment could be more and more favorable and attractive. This is one of the tasks requesting to be done immediately for the sake of the country’s development. 5. Income disparity. Over the last two decades Vietnam has undergone strong economic development as a result of cautious political reforms. Many people claim that Vietnam is winning the battle against poverty via a high rate of economic growth. During the past years, Vietnam government has also launched a number of programs aimed at hunger elimination and poverty alleviation and obtained significant achievements. According to statistics of World Bank, 67% of Vietnams population lived under the poverty line in 1993, but the rate dropped to 24% last year. Yet, at the same time, the gap between rich and poor has increased. In Vietnam, although the gap between the rich and the poor is not as big as in many other countries in the world, it has been going up over the time. The results of many researches also show that inequality of living standard (the rich-poor gap) in Vietnam is shown most prominently in the inequality between the various geo-economic regions and inequality between the rural and urban areas. This inequality originates from several factors among which there are educational qualification and occupation. 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 199319982002 bottom 10% top 10% top 1% Per capita expenditure of top 1% and top/bottom 10% of households, 1993-2002 The widening labor productivity growth gap between the primary sector and the industry and services sectors of the country helps to explain the growing urban-rural gap documented in the Vietnam Living Standard surveys. According to the survey findings, while the overall incidence of poverty declined significantly, from 58.1% in 1995 to 37.4% in 1998, and to 18.1% in 2004, the reduction in poverty was much greater in urban areas, where it declined from 25.1% to 9.2% and to 8.3% respectively. Rural areas experienced a smaller decline, from 66.4% to 45.5% and to 23.2% correspondently. Moreover, real per capita expenditure in urban areas grew twice as fast, recording a 60% increase, relative to rural areas, which recorded a 30% increase (World Bank 2004). Source: VLSS calculations 14% 22% 17% 86% 83% 78% 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 1992/931997/982002 Inequality within each region Inequality between Regions 21% 32% 65% 79% 68% 65% 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 1992/931997/982002 within Urban-Rural area BetweenUrban-Rural area Theil decompositions of inequality by region and rural/urban The evidence from the Living Standard surveys leaves little doubt that, while per capita income has risen and most Vietnamese are better off, the gains from the first phase of reform and external liberalization have largely favored urban, educated, white-collar, and relatively well-off households. Inequality increased by all measures, recording the greatest change. The disparity between richer and poorer households also was apparent when comparing real per capita expenditure between the poorest and richest. From 1999 to 2004, reflecting their higher income growth, the richest 10% of the population increased their spending by 53.3% compared to a 23.3% spending increase by the poorest 10%. The inequality in terms of income, as a consequence, also leads to a number of impacts on life between the rich and the poor, the urban and the rural people. People living in rural areas enjoy fewer opportunities and poorer education as well as other utilities such as clean consuming water, sanitation facilities, electricity, communications and so on in their lives. Meanwhile as for a number of people, mostly in urban areas, studying abroad, traveling by luxurious private vehicles, consuming expensive goods etc†¦ is a common thing. This trend is more and more widening in the country, causing discontent among some groups. That can result in social disorder, compromising the ultimate goal of socialism, harming the country’s institution. Therefore, tackling this issue has become one of the most important issues in order to ensure the stable development of the country. C. SOLUTIONS Dealing with all of the above issues is a time, effort, and funds consuming task. Therefore, the country must have enough determination to pursue this very long way. And foremost, it can’t be finished solely by the government but need the joint efforts between the State and people. On that people, a number of solutions is to be proposed as follows: 1. Corruption and business environment. * Minimizing red-tape and arbitrary discretion: reducing to a minimum activities for which government permission is required and the number of steps required to acquire necessary permits. This includes codifying wide ranging areas of permitted activity (not needing approval) and defining more precisely activities requiring licenses or permits, to curtail opportunity for corruption arising from officials’ scope for interpretation and delay. * Disclosure: greatly increasing the volume of official information that is in the public domain, including more detailed budget information and successful bids in procurement operations; requiring top officials and high elected officers to declare their assets on assuming office and at intervals thereafter (making this information public); and permitting increased independence of the media. * Strengthen judiciary and judicial processes: ensuring full independence, integrity and efficiency of the judicial system in dealing with matters of corruption; minimum ambiguity in laws and regulations; better public dissemination of laws and legal opinions; fair and efficient procedures for bringing corruption charges, with just, consistent and transparent penalties. Judicial and legal reform programs should identify changes in procedures and institutional arrangements which would help anti-corruption goals and promote integrity in public life. * Strengthening human resource management: developing a modern, performance-based personnel system for civil service recruitment and promotion (to ensure a true meritocracy); reviewing civil servants salaries to ensure a living wage; providing training in ethics and integrity; requiring civil servants who routinely meet the public to wear name tags; and displaying prominently to the public instructions to staff concerning customer service standards. * Reforming procurement: already much progress has been made, but further steps could be taken including: (i) publishing in the national press information about winning tenders for government procurement contracts above a given size; and (ii) strengthening procurement laws, possibly adopting the UNCITRAL ( United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ) model law on procurement (which has proved highly effective elsewhere) to the Vietnam context. * Other elements of Public Administration Reform including strengthening: (i) expenditure management, particularly prioritizing allocations among and within sectors, (ii) revenue management, especially revenue collection enforcement, and (iii) decentralization, including establishing clear intergovernmental fiscal transfer system. 2. ECONOMIC STRUCTURE. a. By sectors. * Carry out economic structure transformation with focus on agriculture and rural industrialization and modernization to meet the requirements of the market and minimize the proportion of agriculture production in GDP; * Intensively develop industries boasting competitive advantages; selectively establish a number of heavy industrial establishments; strongly develop hi-tech and export-oriented industries. * Focus on developing small and medium-sized industries and infrastructure and service industries; develop three major economic zones in the Northern, Central and Southern regions together with those in midland, mountainous and coastal regions. b. By ownership * The political will to equitize must be nurtured: This condition is critical to sustain progress of equitization and to keep equitization on the right track. Evidence shows that political will, expressed in terms of pragmatic and timely policies, can overcome obstacles to equitization, even when the process grinds to a virtual standstill (e.g., during the 1992-1998 period.) The political will in Vietnam, accompanied by sound economic analyses, must support the view that the government should limit its reach in areas where people or markets can do a good job. * Equitization authorities require organizational capacity proportionate to the scale of their task. There are at least two alternatives. The first is to build up the capacity of this organization quickly so that public assets in remaining SOEs and equitized enterprises are properly managed, and bad debts before equitization (which is one of main reasons for slow equitization) are handled effectively. Second, the state could decisively and selectively shorten the list of SOEs that need to be kept under public ownership, and at the same time, gradually reduce public ownership in equitized firms to a minimal level. * Equitization must be transparent: When the decision to equitize an SOE has been made, the process must be transparent. To reduce management’s information advantage, all relevant information about a firm targeted for equitization should be published well in advance. This measure then reduces the possibility of underpricing and internal dealing, which may result in corruption and economic inequality. * SOEs should be evaluated by the market: This is again a measure to limit the possibility and extent of underpricing and self dealing, thereby recovering public assets and reducing the extent of economic inequality created by internal equitization. This proposal also speeds up equitization process. Market measures such as public biddings via stock exchanges and independent audits should be employed in the evaluation of SOEs. The recent case of the Vinamilk initial public offering provides an excellent example for this. * Trade and regulatory reforms should be promoted: These reforms create additional pressures to accelerate equitization. The protection enjoyed by SOEs which produce tradable and nontradable goods will be significantly reduced as Vietnam’s commitments under AFTA, BTA, and WTO. For tradable goods, lower tariffs intensify competition, which consequently drives SOE reform forward. For non-tradable goods, Vietnam needs a sound competition law and an effective regulation reform to create a healthy competitive environment to force SOEs to become more accountable. 3. Human resources. For the readiness of the country’s labor force for the new stage of development, particularly post-WTO accession, the following measures need to be taken. * The regulatory framework for labor has to be continuously improved and renewed to catch up with international standards and practices and respond to the specific conditions of Vietnam. Particularly, special attention should be paid to antidiscrimination, transparency and predictability – the basic principles of the WTO in the labor law and management system. In the long run, labor, employment and wage have to observe market rules and the macro-management of the State toward the goal of creating a level playing field for all economic sectors in this area. * Quality of labor has to be improved. It not only relies on skills but also workers’education, sense of discipline and respect of business etiquette. A skilled, disciplined and educated labor force will become a competitive strength of the economy, attracting more foreign investment. With regards to human resource development strategy, on one hand, the country needs to continue training of labor for labor-intensive industries, on the other hand, it should invest into the development of labor for high-tech industries so as to diversify the labor and economic structure. The Vietnamese government and the relevant agencies need to work more closely with the business community and the vocational schools to create enough suitably skilled people for the requirements of industry, and the factory owners themselves should train more employees on the job. Human resource development strategy should always be closely linked to and complement to the socio-economic development strategy. 4. Natural Environment. * The problems can only be solved through a comprehensive approach to environmental management. It will be most important to raise public awareness and support for environmental conservation. With a literacy rate of more than 90% of the population, with the television network available to all districts since the end of 1995, and with inexpensive radios in even the most remote areas, environmental protection messages can be effectively communicated throughout the country. * At a macro level, the government must work to enforce Vietnams existing environmental legislative regulations. This can only be done through an increase in the effectiveness of two-way information on environmental issues, both from the bottom up and the top down. * At the same time, the government should strengthen the capacity for environmental development planning and investment decision-making. It is crucial to improve awareness on environmental management among those who make planning and investment decisions. * Finally, environmental protection can be indirectly achieved through the poverty alleviation process. Efforts at reducing population growth by improving the awareness and knowledge of reproductive health and the access to family planning services could assist in this effort. 5. Income disparity. * To address this concern, the country should focus on pro-poor measures (improved governance including strengthening of grassroots democracy to ensure better accountability, infrastructure investment in the poorest communities, better health and education for the poor, greater emphasis on agriculture and rural development, improving the environment for small and medium enterprises, and so on) to narrow the social development gap between different regions and population groups and to reduce the vulnerabilities of the poor and disadvantaged groups. CONCLUSION Although the country has obtained a number of substantial achievements during the past years in the cause of renovation, it’s impossible not to take into account the above issues. Red tape, corruption, low-quality labor force, uncompetitive economic structure, unfavorable investment climate, natural environment degrading, widening income inequality and so on may both lead to painful and long-lasting consequences if neglected. In the process of integration and globalization, more than ever before, they’re in dire need of being done away with so that the country could successfully penetrate into the world economy and further develop. However, they can’t be dealt with overnight. Instead, to radically solve those problems, it is necessary to take step-by-step measures under a certain schedule . Besides, this work requires the joint efforts between the State and the public rather than unilateral ones. Clearly, it is a long-term and daunting task, but not impossible t o do provided the country is united and determined enough. Furthermore, the outlook of the country is still quite bright. According to a number of world’s analysts, Vietnam will be able to keep its sustainable growth in the coming years. Some even suppose that Vietnam will soon join the group of Asian Tigers, emphasizing its increasingly sound economy. Post-WTO accession period will be a difficult time for the country with significant impacts on both economy and society. It is a milestone marking a crucial turning point of the development of the nation. Gaining WTO membership is similar to participating in a speed race. If we failed to compete with other players, we would be out of the race and would fall behind them without any opportunities to re-emerge. On the contrary, if we can overcome these challenges, we would embark on a new phase of development and prosperity. Under the wise leadership of the Communist Party, with the unity of the whole nation, no doubt that after all, we would realize the ultimate goal of building a Vietnam with rich people, powerful country, equal, democratic and civilized society. References: Vietnam Inequality Report 2005: Assessment and Policy Choices, Mekong Economics Ltd. Vietnam: Economic Update 2006 and Prospects to 2010, Dr. Adam McCarty. Vietnam: External Liberalization, Structural Change, Economic Growth and Income Distribution, Tu Packard. Vietnam Development Report 2006. Labor and social issues emerging from Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs. Vietnam, The Long March to Equitization, Vu Thanh Tu Anh, the William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, April 2005. State Owned Enterprises and Equitization in Vietnam, Fredrik Sjà ¶holm, August 2006. Accelerating Vietnam’s Rural Development: Growth, Equity and Diversification, World Bank, November 2005. 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