Hanoi (VNA) – Auditor General ofthe State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc received the chairmanshipof the Asian Organisation for Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) from Malaysiaat the first plenary session of the 14th ASOSAI Assembly in Hanoi on September19.

The plenary session followed a ceremony to openthe 14th ASOSAI Assembly and celebrate 40 years of the ASOSAI Charter.

In his speech, Phoc said it is an honour for himto assume the chairmanship of ASOSAI in the 2018-2021 term, noting that it isalso the pride of the SAV as well as the Vietnamese people.

The SAV will continue making utmost efforts tohelp build a strong ASOSAI community to contribute to economic development inAsia and around the world, he added.

At the plenum, Auditor General of the NationalAudit Office of China Hu Zejun, who is also head of the ASOSAI Working Group onEnvironmental Auditing (WGEA), delivered a report of the WGEA.

She said thanks to the joint efforts of allmember supreme audit institutions (SAIs), the WGEA successfully implemented theaction plan for 2014-2016 and is actively performing the tasks under the actionplan for 2017-2019.

Over the past years, the WGEA has implementedmany important activities, including the 6th and 7th seminars on environmentalauditing, the 5th and 6th working meetings of the WGEA, promoting cooperationin environmental auditing across Asia, maintaining regular contact withinASOSAI, launching exchanges with working groups in other regions, and sharingexperience in environmental auditing in Asia.

[Infographics: ASOSAI and ASOSAI Assembly]

It has actively taken part in activities of theInternational Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) WorkingGroup on Environmental Auditing. The member SAIs have also participated inprojects relating to climate change and air pollution fight, agricultural andfood production.

Hu said pushing ahead with the action plan for2017-2019, the WGEA will take active measures to reform environmental auditingtechniques and step up cooperation. The ASOSAI Secretariat will also makestronger efforts in the WGEA’s activities and continually contribute toenvironmental protection and sustainable development in Asia.

At the session, ASOSAI Secretary General ChoeJaehyeong, who is Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection of the Republicof Korea, reported on activities of the ASOSAI Secretariat since the previousassembly. 

Accordingly, the ASOSAI approved the StrategicPlan for 2016-2021. The ASOSAI Strategic Plan Management Task Force, led by theSecretary General, has developed annual operation plans since 2016 to ensurethe successful implementation of the Strategic Plan. So far, this plan has beencarried out very well, he noted.

In this period, the ASOSAI Secretariat hasbolstered cooperation with other regional bodies such as the EuropeanOrganisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), the African Organisationof Supreme Audit Institutions (AFRSAI), as well as INTOSAI.

He announced that the 52nd meeting of the ASOSAIGoverning Board in Hanoi on September 18 accepted the SAI of Palestine tobecome the 47th member of the organisation.

At the plenary session, participants chose theSAI of Thailand as host of the 15th ASOSAI Assembly in 2021 and the SAI ofChina as ASOSAI Secretary General for 2018-2021.

The 14th ASOSAI Assembly is taking placein Hanoi from September 19 to 22 under the theme “Environmental Audit forSustainable Development”.–VNA