A view of the 56th meeting of the ASOSAI 's Governing Board under the chair of Vietnamese Auditor General and Chair of ASOSAI for 2018 - 2021 Trần Sỹ Thanh. Photo www.sav.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — The implementation of the Governing Board of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) Strategic Plan for 2016 – 2021 and a draft strategic plan for 2022 – 2027 as well as the organisation’s financial situation were among important issues discussed at its 56th meeting.

The meeting was held in Hà Nội on Monday under the chair of Vietnamese Auditor General and Chair of ASOSAI for 2018 - 2021 Trần Sỹ Thanh and Chinese Auditor General Hou Kai, Secretary General of ASOSAI.

The meeting also focused on other important issues of ASOSAI, including reports by working groups and especially the newly established working groups on auditing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and crisis management.

In particular, member SAIs would gain an insight into achievements by ASOSAI and its members in implementing the Hanoi Declaration. The Governing Board also selected the host of the 16th ASOSAI Assembly.

Director of the State Audit Office of Việt Nam’s Department of International Cooperation Nguyễn Bá Dũng said the Hanoi Declaration on “Environmental Auditing for Sustainable Development” has become an important document of ASOSAI about the strategic vision for the next development step, aiming to fulfill the 2020 programme on the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

During the 2020-2022 period, the ASOSAI has implemented the Cooperative Audit Programme on SDGs with the theme of strong and resilient national public health system which was aimed at more equitable access to public health systems and prioritisation for vulnerable groups such as women, people with disabilities and the poor.

ASOSAI has also strived to promote cooperative audits and research plans through the ASOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing. In 2020, the group carried out a cooperative environmental audit, chaired by the State Audit of Việt Nam, on water management of Mekong River Basin in line with the SDGs, which was joined by SAIs of Thailand and Myanmar.

Its member SAIs have conducted some 84 environmental audits covering a wide range of environmental issues, including air quality, maritime and water resources management; waste treatment, management of medical waste and imported scrap; renewable energy; and natural conservation, prevention of desertification and soil degradation, climate change and biodiversity; and others.

Concluding the event, Auditor General Thanh said since the 54th meeting of the Governing Board, the Chair, Secretary General, and members of the board have exerted efforts to achieve the targets and carry out the recommendations set out in the Hanoi Declaration on environmental auditing, realise the SDGs, and implement the programmes, projects, and activities for the last three years of the ASOSAI Strategic Plan for 2016 - 2021.

The Governing Board approved the establishment of the ASOSAI working groups on auditing the SDGs and crisis management. It also elected the Supreme Audit Institution of India as Chair of the 16th ASOSAI Assembly for the 2024 - 2027 tenure.

The mission, vision, core values, strategic targets, and priorities of the organisation stated in the ASOSAI Strategic Plan for 2022 - 2027 also received high consensus from the Governing Board’s members.

Thanh noted the ASOSAI fund for COVID-19 response, worth US$200,000, has been deployed, helping member SAIs to cope with the pandemic.

The outcomes of the Governing Board's 56th meeting proved that ASOSAI is a professional organisation of cooperation, integration, and reform that is ready to cope with unceasing changes in the region and the world, he added. — VNS