Hanoi (VNA) – As the Chair of the Asian Organisation of SupremeAudit Institution (ASOSAI) for the 2018-2021 term, the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV)has strived to implement its audit plan for 2020 despite formidable challengescaused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a wide range of the SAV’s activities were hampered by the coronavirusoutbreak, the SAV has to adjust its foreign affairs plan for 2020, includingthe ASOSAI Chair’s activities.

It joined hands with the National Audit Office of China – the Secretary Generalof ASOSAI, and members of the ASOSAI Governing Board to make preparation for theGoverning Board’s online meeting on July 27.

The SAV also sharpened focus on the implementation of commitments under the HanoiDeclaration, which was considered to be among the most notable outcomes of the14th ASOSAI. The move will help it increase prestige and influence at globaland regional forums.

At the 55th Governing Board meeting of the ASOSAI held in the form of ateleconference on July 27, the SAV proposed an audit on water resources in theMekong River basin be conducted by the agency, called “ASOSAI’s cooperativeenvironmental audit in Southeast Asia in the 2020-2021 period”.

A parallel audit on water issues in the river basin was successfully carriedout with the participation of five Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) ofThailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, with technical assistance fromthe German Development Cooperation.

Audit results show that, at the national level, thesystem of policies and laws and compliance with policies and laws on waterresources management in general and water resources management in the MekongRiver basin in particular still bear limitations, leading to the unreasonableexploitation and use of water, absence of planning, and increases in waterpollution.

The success ofthe audit provided valuable lessons on the efficient and sustainable use andmanagement of water resources, especially water resources flowing through theterritories of many countries, for ASOSAI members in general and SAIs inSoutheast Asia in particular, thus reducing negative impacts on the environmentand the social security of residents in relevant areas.

In the first half of 2020, the SAV represented the ASOSAI to attend two onlinetechnical-level meetings on building strategic plan of the InternationalOrganisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), and gave opinions onorientation of the ASOSAI’s strategies, plans to build strategic plans, andsurvey of SAIs’ information.

The SAV’s initiative to set up a special committee, which is responsible forstudying the establishment of an ASOSAI’s working group to carry outsustainable development goals of the state audits, was said as a pioneerrecommendation in the INTOSAI.

Its documentary film “ASOSAI for sustainable development”, to be screened atthe 15th Assembly of ASOSAI in Thailand next year, received enthusiasticsupport from members of the ASOSAI’s Governing Board. The film aims topopularise and acknowledge ASOSAI’s contributions to promoting and realisingsustainable development goals under the Hanoi Declaration.

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

The ASOSAI’sgoal is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among member SAIs throughthe exchange of ideas and experience in public auditing, creating favourableconditions for the training of State auditors to improve working quality andefficiency.

The State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) became a member of ASOSAI in 1997. Inthe first period of the membership, the SAV mainly sent auditors to attendtraining courses and workshops sponsored by ASOSAI to enhance professionalcapacity. Since 2010, the SAV has undertaken a more active role in professionalactivities of ASOSAI./.