ASOSAI 14 to champion sustainable development

On September 17, the SAV debuted a dedicated press centre for ASOSAI 14 and held a press conference at My Dinh National Convention Hall in Hanoi to introduce the ASOSAI 14 agenda.

In his remarks, the General Auditor stated that in the nearly 21 years since becoming ASOSAI member in 1997, this is the first time the SAV has been empowered by Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) to host the important event.

Effectively enhancing its role as a member of the 12 ASOSAI Governing Board and successfully organizing meetings of the ASOSAI Governing Board towards hosting the ASOSAI Assembly in the 2015-2020 period are among the key external affairs of the SAV to realize its development strategy by 2020.

As the host of ASOSAI 14, the SAV will serve as the ASOSIA Chair for three consecutive terms from 2015 to 2024, which demonstrates the high level of trust held by the international community in the SAV and affirms the audit office’s strategic vision for international integration and cooperation by 2020. It is also a great honour and heavy responsibility for the SAV and other SAI members to make further contributions to the development of the organization.

The Auditor General described the event as a significant landmark for the enhancement of the role of the supreme auditing agencies and independent public asset and financial supervision institutions in improving the transparency of finance sectors in each member country. It also provides a chance to uphold the prestige, image and reputation of the SAV as well as Vietnam in the international arena.

With regard to the theme of the 14th ASOSAI Assembly, Mr Phot said the nation’s sustainable development process greatly depends on environmental factors, which are a major obstacle to people’s livelihood, business activities and climate change. With its conception “Vietnam will not exchange its environment for economic benefits at any price", ASOSAI 14 has chosen the theme “Environmental Auditing for Sustainable Development” to give a common voice to the promotion of environmentally friendly sustainable development.

At a time when the fourth industrial revolution is spreading rapidly, as a developing country, Vietnam is drawing huge investment projects. If there are no measures to prevent out-of-date technologies and machines from being imported into the country, Vietnam will become a dumping ground for obsolete tech, seriously affecting people’s quality of life and sustainable development in the future, the Auditor General noted.

The 14th ASOSAI Assembly, set to take place from September 19-22, is expected to attract around 350 representatives from 60 international delegations.

The Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, is scheduled to deliver a speech opening the event, and Party and State leaders will host receptions for the leaders of international delegations.

Under the tentative agenda, the 14th ASOSAI Assembly plans to include the following contents:

- To adopt the Annual Action Plan to implement the ASOSAI Strategic Plan 2016-2021; Capacity Development Plan for 2018-2021;

- To vote to select personnel for ASOSAI’s Board of Directors, Chairman, Secretary General, Audit Committee for the term 2018-2021;

- To organize the 7th Symposium on “Environmental Auditing for Sustainable Development”;

- To approve the Hanoi Declaration.

Established in 1979 with 11 members, ASOSAI now has 46 members. Held very three years, ASOSAI serves as a platform for meetings between the heads of SAIs of member countries.