Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan works with the Wales Audit Office

At the beginning of the meeting, Auditor General Adrian Crompton expressed his happiness and honor to welcome Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan and the SAV delegation for the first time. He noted that this visit would open up new expectations for cooperation between the two agencies.

Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan thanked Auditor General Crompton and his colleagues for their warm and respectful welcome. He briefly reported on the results of the cooperation between the SAV and the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom (UK NAO), noting that enhancing professional capacity and improving audit quality are top priorities for SAV to successfully implement its Development Strategy by 2030 and fulfill its role as a member of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the 2024-2027 term.

Accordingly, SAV has been actively researching, learning from, and adopting international experience to achieve these goals. Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed his hope that this visit would boost cooperation between SAV and the Wales Audit Office in exchanging and sharing experience and best practices, helping SAV improve its organizational management, and enhancing audit quality to contribute to the reform of public finance and administration in Viet Nam. This is particularly significant as Viet Nam and the United Kingdom recently celebrated their 50 years of diplomatic relations (1973-2023).

Regarding future cooperation directions, Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed his desire to strengthen collaboration with the Wales Audit Office through exchange of high-level and technical-level visits, sending experts to Viet Nam to deliver training, and sharing knowledge and best practices in audit topics of mutual interest.

Adrian Crompton stated that the Wales Audit Office appreciates the cooperation ideas proposed by the Auditor General and will endeavor to meet the wishes and requests of the SAV. He also suggested that both sides maintain regular communication to exchange information and close coordination in the future to explore appropriate support and cooperation programs.

Following the meeting, the SAV delegation and the Wales Audit Office held a seminar to exchange experience on auditing anti-corruption efforts and enhancing the transparency of the national financial system.

At the seminar, representatives of the Wales Audit Office shared insights on the National Fraud Initiative, which is conducted biannually across the UK to help prevent and detect frauds and errors. The comparison and collation of data through this initiative revealed £7.1 million related to frauds and errors and identified 4,354 collated data entries showing signs of frauds and errors during the 2022-2023 audit.

The Wales Audit Office affirmed its commitment to encouraging active participation of agencies and organizations in Wales in the implementation of the National Fraud Initiative, contributing to improving public services across the UK.

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 on issues related to combating corruption and enhancing transparency in the national financial system, thereby fostering mutual understanding and supporting shared goals for independent, objective auditing for the stability and sustainability of each country's finances.

Concluding the seminar, Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed gratitude to the colleagues of the Wales Audit Office for their valuable exchanges. He appreciated the UK's National Fraud Initiative and indicated that SAV could learn from this experience. He emphised that in the process of conducting audits, the SAV would communicate these good practices, valuable lessons, and experiences with the audited entities in Viet Nam.