Hanoi (VNA) -National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has applauded the State AuditOffice of Vietnam (SAV) for its contributions in fighting corruption and waste.

At a working session withSAV leaders on October 3, Ngan said the role of State Audit was enhanced in2013 when State audit agencies and the State Audit of Vietnam were mentioned inthe country’s Constitution 2013 and when the National Assembly approved the Lawon Audit in 2015.

The SAV has detectedproblems of legal documents and recommended amending, replacing or removing theerroneous documents, helping to improve the quality of legal documents,especially those related to State management of public assets, Ngan said.

The SAV also provideddocuments and materials to agencies and police so they could investigatesuspected violations.

Last year, the State Auditconducted 276 audits and proposed financial corrections worth 38.77 trillion VND(1.7 billion USD), the highest figure in its 22 years of operation. It alsorecommended the adjustment, supplementation, replacement and withdrawal of 150legal documents to prevent losses and waste.

The agency helpedre-evaluate State capital in seven enterprises and revised up the amount by 20.8trillion VND (917 million USD). Also, after examining 27 build-operate-transferprojects in the transportation sector, the State Audit proposed cutting thecombined duration of toll collecting by 107 years.

In the first eight monthsof this year, the SAV’s 108 draft audit reports proposed financial correctionswhich add 11 trillion VND (484 million USD) to the State’s budget, reducespending by 6.78 trillion VND (298 million USD) from the State’s budget andcorrect the spending of another 5.15 trillion VND (226.6 million USD).

ꩲ[State Audit urged to focus on areas with high corruption risks]

The NA chairwoman asked theSAV to keep fulfilling its tasks, especially in providing data forsocio-economic development plans.

“The SAV’s good performancewill help the National Assembly make effective policies on finance, monetary,taxes and State budget spending,” she said.

She also requested the SAVspeed up the drafting of documents guiding the implementation of the Law onState Audit 2015, applying information technology and administrative reform toreduce auditing time.

Ngan urged the audit agencyto expand international relations, particularly through hosting the 14thCongress of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions next year.

State Auditor General Ho DucPhoc confirmed that the SAV would follow the resolutions and policies of Party,State and Government to fulfill its tasks.

Under the Law on StateAudit, the SAV is a specialised agency for examining State finance establishedby the National Assembly, performing its duties independently and subject onlyto laws, and its functions extend to auditing financial statements, auditingcompliance with laws, and auditing the performance of every institution thatmanages and uses State assets.-VNA