New York: Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ngo Van Tuan has met with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua at the UN headquarters in New York.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of a global meeting on the engagement of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in assessing national climate action on March 25 – 26.
Tuan said climate change is now one of the most discussed topics around the world. As an active and responsible member of the International Organisation of SAIs (INTOSAI) and the Governing Board of the Asian Organisation of SAIs (ASOSAI) in the 2015 – 2024 period and to implement the commitments under the Hanoi Declaration on environmental auditing for sustainable development, the SAV identified environmental auditing as one of its focuses to enhance both the quality and quantity of audits.
Giving a brief introduction of the SAV’s activities and its engagement in international cooperation in environmental, climate change, and Susta
inable Development Goals (SDGs) auditing, he noted that the SAV initiated and chaired an audit on the management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin in 2021 which also involved the SAIs of Thailand and Myanmar.
The SAV has also actively taken part in training courses, meetings, and webinars on environmental and SDGs auditing held by other countries’ SAIs, partners, and organisations in the region and the world, he added.
The Auditor General proposed the UN Under-Secretary-General promote the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)’s assistance and sharing of auditing information, research, and publications on environmental and social affairs so that the SAV can use them as sources of reference.
UNDESA and the SAV can also develop cooperative ties through multilateral cooperation forums on environmental, climate change, and SDGs auditing, Tuan suggested.
Under-Secretary-General Li highly valued the SAV’s participation in the global meeting, during which it shared its experience in th
is field, thus reflecting the voice of developing countries and boosting the exchange of environmental auditing experience.
The UN official noted that he is impressed with the SAV’s unceasing efforts to help with environmental protection and climate change adaptation. He also voiced the readiness to assist the SAV in capacity building, information technology application, and big data use.
On the sidelines of the global meeting, Tuan also met with and invited Bruno Dantas, President of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts and Chair of INTOSAI, to attend a ceremony marking the 30th founding anniversary of Vietnam’s audit sector. The Brazilian side said it will send senior officials to the event.
The Auditor General of Vietnam also had separate meetings with the auditors general of India and Turkey to promote bilateral cooperation and seek support from the two countries’ SAIs for the SAV’s candidacy for membership of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the 2024 – 2027 tenure.
The SAIs of India and Turkey showe
d their support for the SAV’s candidacy. The Auditor General of Turkey also voiced the hope to visit the SAV in 2025./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency