Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan holds a bilateral meeting at the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom

The delegation included leaders from the International Cooperation Department, the Human Resources Department, the Administrative Department, the Department of Audit Policy and Quality Control, as well as representatives from Specialized Audit Departments No. 1b, III, V, Regional Audit Offices No. XI, XIII.

Presenting at the meeting from UK NAO side were Gareth Davis, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of UK NAO, along with his esteemed colleagues. Gareth Davis expressed his honor at receiving Mr. Ngo Van Tuan and the SAV delegation, particularly as the two countries, Viet Nam and the United Kingdom, have recently celebrated their 50 years of diplomatic relations (1973-2023).

Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed his delight at visiting the United Kingdom and witnessing the developments of the friendly and cooperative relationship between Viet Nam and the United Kingdom over the past 50 years. He hoped this visit would open new prospects for cooperation between the SAV and UK NAO in the future. The two heads also exchanged information about recent economic and social achievements and provided a brief overview of their respective systems, functions, and missions.

Tuan highlighted that in its 30-year journey of establishment and development, SAV has continuously been innovating to enhance the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of audits for the transparency and sustainable development of the national financial system.

The Auditor General mentioned three pillars of development outlined in the SAV's Development Strategy by 2030, emphasizing the desire for cooperation with UK NAO, particularly in training high-quality human resources and applying information technology in auditing activities. He expressed interest in UK NAO's experience in comprehensive auditing and the application of information technology.

Gareth Davis presented the areas that UK NAO is focusing on, such as artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Notably, with 400 public accounts to be audited, the development of software has supported UK NAO in conducting audits on a large scale without sampling. The UK NAO representative shared its process for presenting and submitting audit reports to Parliament.

Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed his high hope that, with the cutting edge of financial audit, value for money audit, insights, and external audits for international organizations, UK NAO would further enhance cooperative activities with the SAV to exchange and share experience thereof. Such sharing could occur through various channels: exchange of high-level and technical-level delegations; inviting SAV auditors to participate in workshops and conferences in the UK on audit issues such as insights and value for money audits; sharing audit-related materials, guidelines, and standards; and continuing mutual support in multilateral forums.

Appreciating Tuan for his information and suggestions, Gareth Davis highlighted that UK NAO values the SAV’s suggestions for cooperation and will strive to meet as many requests as possible. He also suggested that both sides maintain regular communication to exchange information and to consider suitable support and cooperation programs in the future.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

After the courtesy meeting, the SAV delegation together with the UK NAO colleagues held a seminar to share experience in auditing anti-corruption efforts and enhancing the transparency of the national financial system.

With the seminar topic, “How Governments address frauds and corruption,” UK NAO representatives shared guidelines for government audit agencies to understand their functions and responsibilities in enhancing the government’s response to frauds and corruption. UK NAO presented three main contents, including the scope and extent of fraudulent and corrupt activities, the government's capacity to combat frauds and corruption, and necessary actions to mitigate these issues.

Accordingly, UK NAO provided nine viewpoints and recommendations for the government, including: establishing best practices for transparency and financial control; acting as “one only government” to address fraud; fostering a culture of anti-fraud and anti-corruption; developing effective evaluation reports on the levels of fraud and corruption; applying preventive measures to fraud and corruption risks in individual area; developing a fraud and corruption prevention – focused profession; mining and using data to prevent frauds and corruption; eliminating frauds and corruption from new initiatives and operational systems; and utilizing investigation powers and capacities as an effective deterrent.

Through the seminar, UK NAO reaffirmed its commitment to conducting high-quality audits to fulfill its mission as an independent watchdog of public spendings and continually striving to improve public services in the United Kingdom.

During the seminar, Nguyen Khanh Hoa, Director General of the Specialized Audit Department No. Ib, representing the SAV, shared experience in audits which are in support for the anti-corruption efforts and enhancement of the transparency of the national financial system. He emphasized the role of the SAV, its coordination with other agencies and the results of anti-corruption efforts, etc. over recent years. He also presented some directions and measures to improve the effectiveness of anti-corruption auditing by the SAV in the future.

Both sides engaged in open discussions, rich in both theoretical and practical contents, covering numerous aspects of the roles of SAIs in anti-corruption efforts, contributing to enhancing transparency, public integrity, and good governance.