State Audit Office of Vietnam successfully fulfills role as ASOSAI Chair

Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc (Photo: VNA)

The State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV), as Chair of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) in the 2018-2021 term, has carried out a lot of important and effective audit activities which have gained praise from regional and international audit agencies.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc highlighted the efforts made by the SAV as the ASOSAI Chair to lead the 14th ASOSAI Assembly to adopt the Hanoi Declaration with a meaningful message of “Environmental Audit for Sustainable Development” in 2018.

Right after the declaration was approved, the SAV actively worked with the National Audit Office of China – the ASOSAI Secretary General – to build the organisation’s Plan of Action for the 2018-2021 tenure, with five main tasks: Auditing newly-emerging issues, response to climate change and environmental pollution challenges in the regional and global scales, the fourth Industrial Revolution and digital transformation, the role of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in successfully implementing national targets and programmes, and increasing knowledge sharing and improving the audit capacity of SAIs.

Being aware of the risk of losing water sources security, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion which are seriously affecting the Mekong River in general and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in particular, the SAV chaired cooperative environmental audit on water management in the Mekong River Basin in combination with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With its high determination, the SAV has received consensus and engagement of the SAIs of Thailand and Myanmar, as well as technical assistance from prestigious international experts, the World Bank, and the SAIs of Indonesia and Malaysia.

On December 22, 2020, thư SAIs of Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar signed a statement of commitments and terms of reference for the cooperative audit, agreeing on an action plan for its organisation.

Accordingly, they pledged to focus on identifying the responsibilities of related countries in the implementation of the SGDs, and assess their contributions to commitments on water sources management, use, and protection in the Mekong River basin.

In addition, the SAV initiated and produced a documentary film “ASOSAI for sustainable development”, which will be screened at the 15th ASOSAI Assembly in Thailand this year. The film, which has received enthusiastic support from members of the ASOSAI’s Governing Board, aims to popularise and acknowledge ASOSAI’s contributions to promoting and realising sustainable development goals under the Hanoi Declaration.

Along with the ASOSAI, the SAV has actively and responsibly participated in activities of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) as a representative of its Regional Working Group.

To become a model regional working group and boost inter-regional cooperation, the SAV has represented ASOSAI to attend the 11th Assembly of the Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) and the 23rd INTOSAI Assembly in Russia.

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many international cooperation activities were postponed and cancelled. The SAV actively adjusted activities and organized them in the online format. Of note, it successfully hosted the 55th meeting of the ASOSAI Governing Board via videoconference, which was appreciated by member SAIs.

The ASOSAI, founded in 1979, pursues a common mission like other working groups of the INTOSAI, that is “Professional supreme audit institutions promote good State governance” and with the core values of “Professionalism, Cooperation, Equality, Creativity”.

The ASOSAI’s goal is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among member SAIs through the exchange of ideas and experience in public auditing, creating favourable conditions for the training of State auditors to improve working quality and efficiency.

The SAV became a member of ASOSAI in 1997. In the first period of the membership, the SAV mainly sent auditors to attend training courses and workshops sponsored by ASOSAI to enhance professional capacity. Since 2010, the SAV has undertaken a more active role in professional activities of ASOSAI./.