Vietnam’s Auditor General highlights connectivity in ASOSAI

Auditor General of the State Audit of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc 

Auditor General of the State Audit of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc has highlighted the importance of connectivity to bring added values to supreme audit institutions in an interview recently granted to the media.

The interview took place following four working days of the 14th Assembly of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), which closed in Hanoi on September 22.

He said during the ASOSAI 14, member Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) agreed to build a portal to share data and choose the training centres of the SAIs of China, India and Malaysia as training venues for ASOSAI’s auditors. 

The assembly also encouraged SAIs to choose themes for joint audits and promote committees on sharing knowledge and audit methods and improving capacity for a higher level of development with better quality and efficiency. 

ASOSAI needs to build a common archive, especially in knowledge sharing, training and audit orientations, towards meeting International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) standards, he said. 

Asked about what tasks that the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) – Chair of ASOSAI for the 2018-2021 tenure - should do to promote data sharing among SAIs, Phoc said the SAV is tasked with fostering solidarity in ASOSAI community and directing SAIs to conduct audits up to INTOSAI standards. 

The SAV also strives to become a professional, prestigious, responsible and modern financial inspection agency, he said. 

To that end, he urged the SAV to acquire experience from supreme audit institutions worldwide, improve the capacity of auditors and use new technologies, thus meeting public demand. 

For the first time, ASOSAI Assembly issued a Declaration, namely Hanoi Declaration with goals for the theme “Environmental Auditing for Sustainable Development”. Accordingly, Asia’s SAIs must do their best to ensure integrity and the fulfillment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

ASOSAI’s executive board will call on committees to share knowledge and improve capacity based on its resolutions, thereby achieving goals set in the Hanoi Declaration, he said.

PM Phuc hails WFTU’s support to Vietnam

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phu. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 23 said the Party, State, people and workers of Vietnam always treasure, be grateful to and highly value the great support and important contributions rendered by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) to Vietnam during the wars of resistance for national independence and the national construction and defence.

The Government leader made the statement while receiving WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos, who is visiting Vietnam and attending the 12th congress of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL). He highlighted that the WFTU held an international conference on solidarity with Vietnam, organized fund-raising activities for Vietnam during the wars.

PM Phuc also affirmed that the Party, State and Government of Vietnam have always supported and facilitated the VGCL to act as an active and responsible member of the WFTU through the stages of the revolution in Vietnam. Over the past year and under the leadership of the Party as well as the coordination from the State and other organizations in the political system, the VGCL has recorded vigorous development and conducted comprehensive reforms to take care of the workers’ interests and rights, he stressed.

The leader expressed his hope that the WFTU will continue supporting Vietnam and the VGCL in their national construction and development, international integration, as well as in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers and union members.

For his part, Mavrikos recalled the profound and friendly relations between the WFTU and the VGCL, and said his organization is now enjoying a strong development with a membership of 100 million workers throughout the world. He also expressed his joy at the unceasing development of the VGCL.

The official stressed that the WFTU always pays attention to the pushing up of the relations with the VGCL and stands ready to support it in the national construction and development, and spoke highly of the close coordination from the VGCL which, he said, contributed to the development of the WFTU.

Mavrikos also expressed his profound condolences over the passing away of President Tran Dai Quang, and PM Phuc expressed his thanks for this.

SAV vows to foster cooperation within ASOSAI as new chair

Auditor General of the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc. 

Auditor General of the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc has vowed to take more concrete actions to foster cooperation within the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) in a bid to bring into fully play the potential of its members and take it to a new height.

Environmental issues are becoming a serious threat to the growth of each country, making environmental audit for sustainable development more important, said the new ASOSAI chairman, referring to the theme of the 14th ASOSAI Assembly this year.

SAV will further step up environmental audit in the time ahead and strengthen operation audit to assess the management and use of resources and environmental protection of state agencies towards the sustainable development goals, Phoc told a press conference in Hanoi on September 22, following the conclusion of the assembly.

The ASOSAI 14 Assembly adopted the Hanoi Declaration which demonstrates SAV’s commitments towards ASOSAI’s mission in promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building among members with a focus on environmental auditing for sustainable development of the nations and the region.

It was the first time Vietnam hosted a regional event in public auditing and took over the chair of ASOSAI for the 2018 – 2021 term. The 14th ASOSAI Assembly provided SAV an opportunity to enhance cooperation and commitment on public audit standards to the highest level to serve the common interests of its members.

During the ASOSAI 14 Assembly, SAV has held various meetings with other ASOSAI members to reach agreements on cooperation in building a transparent and effective national financial system.

Nepalese Auditory General Tanka Mani Sharma expected that, as a chair of ASOSAI 14, Vietnam will play a leading role in the development of the audit community not only within the ASOSAI but also at the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), and further promote bilateral partnership in the field.

On the other hands, the ASOSAI 14 Assembly affirmed SAV’s strategic vision for international integration and cooperation by 2020 which highlights its mission in implementing the Party and State of Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance and multilateralization, said Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien.

In her opening remarks at the ASOSAI 14 Assembly, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also hailed SAV for its development over the last two decades. It has effectively supported the NA in supervising the national financial system, she noted, adding that it has also learned from international experience to improve capacity of its auditors and strengthen new areas of audit, such as operation audit, information technology audit, public debt audit and environmental audit.

The ASOSAI Assembly, which is held every three years, is the venue for all heads of ASOSAI member supreme audit agencies to discuss and decide on major issues, necessary documents, regimes, and policies to achieve the association’s objectives and further its development. It also serves as a forum for sharing experience in the field of state audits.

The 14th ASOSAI Assembly took place from September 19 -22 in Hanoi.  The main sessions included the 7th Symposium, technical-level meetings of the Secretariat and Committees, Working Groups, and the 52nd and the 53rd Governing Board meetings.

This year’s event saw the largest ASOSAI gathering to date. Approximately 400 delegates from 79 international delegations, including ASOSAI members, the representatives of INTOSAI's working groups and international organisations as observers, participated in the Assembly.

The assembly elected the members of Governing Board, namely Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Nepal, Bangladesh and two members of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the term 2018-2021 - Turkey and Kazakhstan.

It also approved the reports on the budget, research activity and capacity building, the implementation of the ASOSAI strategic plan, recognising Palestine SAI as a new member, and the regulations for observers for the Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions in South East Asia - ESEANSAI.

Auditor General of Vietnam officially assumed the role of Chairman of ASOSAI and Auditor General of China as Secretary General of ASOSAI for the 2018-2021 term at this Assembly.

Vietnam pledges to broaden partnership with Azerbaijan

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu addresses a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the first legislative body of Azerbaijan on September 21 

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to expanding partnership with Azerbaijan in many areas while addressing a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the first legislative body of Azerbaijan on September 21.

Luu said that the State and people of Vietnam have always followed closely and is pleased at the strong growth of Azerbaijan.

He highlighted that Vietnamese people always remember the great support that Azerbaijani people have given Vietnam in the past struggle for independence as well as today’s national constriction.

He also hailed the role of Azerbaijan’s parliament in the country’s political system and in fostering friendship with other countries in the world, including Vietnam.

Earlier, NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu had a meeting with First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijan Parliament Ziyafet Askerov to discuss a range of cooperation issues, including increasing delegation exchange at all levels and channels.

Luu suggested that the two sides continue optimise the consultation mechanism and coordinate with each other at multilateral forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The two sides agreed that economic and trade relations between the two countries have recovered but have yet to meet their potential.

Two-way trade in 2017 reached 252 million USD, 2.5 times higher than that of 2016, but was still much lower than 422 million USD in 2014, they noted, adding that the two sides are all strong in oil and gas exploitation which is an advantageous conditions for Azerbaijani firms to engage in oil and gas as well as power infrastructure projects in Vietnam.

Luu expressed hope that the parliament of Azerbaijan supports the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN countries on the settlement of East Sea disputes through peaceful measures without using or threatening to use force, on the basis of international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, thus contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

For his part, Ziyafet Askerov agreed with proposals of Vietnam, pledging to continue promoting bilateral relations. He revealed that the Chairman of the Azerbaijan Parliament will visit Vietnam soon.

Vietnam and Azerbaijan set up their diplomatic relations in 1992. The two sides have established cooperation in various fields from politics, economy, trade, energy to education and science-technology. The ties were strengthened through the 2014 visit to Vietnam by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and Azerbaijan visit by President Truong Tan Sang in 2015.

During his stay, NA Vice Chairman Luu also visited the Baku State University where he is an alumnus. The university plans to launch a Vietnamese language faculty soon.

VFF inks cooperative deal with Russian social organisations

President of the VFF Central Committee Tran Thanh Man (L) shakes hands with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee signed a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation programme during 2018-2023 with Russia’s Civic Chamber and the All-Russia People’s Front in Moscow on September 21. 

The deal was inked during a working session between President of the VFF Central Committee Tran Thanh Man and Secretary of the Russian Civic Chamber Valery Fadeev as part of the former’s visit to Russia. 

The VFF leader stressed that Vietnam always attaches much importance to the traditional friendship with Russia, and consistently works to promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. 

Vietnam considers Russia both a traditional and a comprehensive strategic partner, thus giving top priority to Russia in its foreign policies, he said.

Introducing the host about the VFF’s roles, positions, and functions, Man said that the VFF and the Civic Chamber of Russia have maintained sound cooperative relations through delegation exchange and experience sharing.

Valery Fadeev highlighted that the two sides have had various practical exchanges and meetings. Particularly, during the visit to Vietnam in December, 2017 made by a delegation from the Russian Civic Chamber, both sides reached consensus on the signing of a memorandum of understanding among the Russian Chamber, the All-Russia People’s Front and the VFF during 2018-2023.

He hoped that the deal will help enhance cooperative ties among the three organisations, and believed that this is an important step forward in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Secretary of the All-Russia People’s Front Alexey Viktorovich, for his part, took note of similarities in the missions of the VFF and the All-Russia People’s Front, including protecting the rights and legitimate interests of the people, and conducting social supervision and criticism. He affirmed that he is willing to share experience with Vietnam in those fields.

The same day, the VFF high-level delegation visited and planted trees at the headquarters of the All-Russia People’s Front, and attended a roundtable on “social supervision”. They then visited the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on measures to bolster the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Man’s visit to Russia will last until September 25.

Vice President active in 2nd Eurasian Women’s Forum

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh (red long dress) at he plenary session of the forum

The Vietnamese delegation led by Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh made active contributions to the second Eurasian Women’s Forum, which wrapped up in Saint Petersburg of Russia on September 22 after two days of sitting. 

Vice President Thinh delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the event, in which she highlighted Vietnam’s achievements in ensuring equality for women, and affirmed that Vietnam will work closely with other countries to realise the forum’s goals of protecting and elevating women’s role in the world.

During her stay in Russia, the Vietnamese Vice President met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and had working sessions with Russian Federation Council Chairperson V.I Matviyenko and Governor of Saint Petersburg G.Poltavchenko.

In the framework of the forum as well as in separate meetings with Vice President Thinh, Russian leaders expressed their deep condolences over the passing of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. 

They affirmed that Russia treasures the ties with Vietnam, and the country will work to further strengthen the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. 

On the sidelines of the forum, Vice President Thinh also had meetings with heads of delegations from some traditional partner countries of Vietnam, including Serbia, Laos, Cuba, Armenia and Hungary.

During the meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, the two sides showed their desire and determination to effectively implement the free trade agreement between the Eurasia Economic Union and Vietnam, thus promoting economic and trade ties between the two countries. 

Vice President Thinh affirmed that Vietnam is willing to coordinate closely with Armenia to successfully organise the Francophone Summit in Armenia on October 11-12, 2018. 

In her meeting with the Cuban National Assembly’s vice chairman, the Vietnamese leader spoke highly of important results achieved in the visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong to Cuba on March this year, expressing her belief that visits of high-ranking leaders of the two nations will contribute to stepping up the bilateral cooperation.

Meeting with the Chairwoman of Laos’s National Assembly, Vice President Thinh stressed that the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos is witnessing new development steps, asking the Lao side to continuously create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Laos. 

The Eurasian Women Forum adopted the document on the results of the forum, which affirmed that the forum contributes to uniting women over the world for the goal of building a stable and safe future. 

Delegates affirmed their determination to continue fighting for the equality between men and women as an integral part of rights and the basic freedom of human, thus ensuring women’s equal and adequate access to economic resources, and expanding opportunities for women through international cooperation. 

They also called on countries, international organizations and communities to perfect legal mechanisms; roll out and promote national programmes and strategies to remove obstacles to women, especially in the areas of State management, diplomacy and business, towards ensuring the full and equal participation of women in the fields related to politics, economy, society and culture.

They applauded the signing of the Declaration on the intention to set up the Eurasian Association of Female Regional Leaders, while calling for the promotion of the role of women in interreligious and inter-ethnic dialogues.

Government encourages Vietnam-Poland cooperation: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on Friday encouraged enterprises from Viet Nam and Poland to prepare investment plans in fields of mutual interests, such as the environment, agriculture, and food processing.

Binh believes this will help to take advantage of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which will be signed soon.

In his speech at the Viet Nam-Poland Economic Co-operation seminar held as part of his visit to the Central European country, Binh underlined that the Government encouraged Vietnamese firms to land investment in the fields of IT and consumption goods in Poland to break into Polish and other European markets.

He stressed on the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries, adding that Poland is currently the largest trade partner of Viet Nam in Central Europe, with two-way trade hitting a record of US$1.05 billion in 2017.

"There are already many Vietnamese businesses carrying out projects in Poland," he said.

The most noteworthy, worth $3 million, is invested by dairy giant Vinamilk.

Regarding the Vietnamese economic situation, he said the economy grew 6.81 per cent in 2017, the highest level recorded during the 2011-17 period.

Binh also introduced Viet Nam’s favourable business climate, potential, international integration, and modern-day reform progress in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to the seminar.

Polish participants and businesses expressed their impression at Viet Nam’s socio-economic achievement over the past few years.

They said they were interested in investment opportunities in Viet Nam, while speaking highly of Viet Nam’s important position in their business network in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific.

They lauded concerted efforts made by the Vietnamese Government in creating a welcoming business and investment environment and affirmed their determination to expand business in the country to capitalise on opportunities brought by the EVFTA.

Meanwhile, representatives from some Polish universities said they wanted to enhance student exchanges, and recommended that Polish authorities create favourable conditions for Vietnamese students wanting to pursue studies in the country.