State Audit Office, GIZ boost cooperation

A Vietnamese delegation led by State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc held a working session with leaders of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in the German city of Bonn on February 28.

State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc (third from right) presents a gift to a leader of the German Agency for International Cooperation in the German city of Bonn on February 28, 2020. (Photo: sav.gov.vn)
State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc (third from right) presents a gift to a leader of the German Agency for International Cooperation in the German city of Bonn on February 28, 2020. (Photo: sav.gov.vn)

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Kim from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, who is in charge of cooperation with Vietnam, said the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV)’s interest in information technology and environment audit is also part of the focus in coordination between the two countries and Germany’s development strategy in Asia and partner countries in the near future.

Auditor General Phoc, for his part, said thanks to the GIZ’s effective support, the SAV built and issued 36 standards based on international audit standards set by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

From 2011 to 2019, the GIZ continued to assist the SAV via a regional project to improve the capacity of the ASEAN Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI), he said, expressing hope for further support from the GIZ, especially in operational, environment and information technology (IT) audit.

According to him, the SAV is working to improve operational audit to better assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the use and management of public finance and assets.

He suggested the German side share experience in devising strategy, selecting topics, and presenting reports on operational audit.

Phoc said the SAV will build a database on IT audit and databases on other fields in order to compile an overview of the national finance and public assets, conduct periodic audit on key IT systems and projects, step up training of IT auditors, build a big data system and an intellectual database.

He expressed hope that the SAV would continue receiving support from GIZ in environment and IT audit, application of IT in audit activities and use of artificial intelligence in big data analysis.