On December 12, 2022, Mr. Ngo Van Tuan, member of the CPV Central Committee, Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam (SAV) led the delegation at a working visit to the Turkish Courts Account in Ankara, Turkey.
The delegation of SAV paid a working visit to the Turkish Courts Account
The delegation of the State Audit office of Viet Nam (SAV) included Mr. Do Van Tao - Director General of the Personnel and Organization Department, Mr. Nguyen Ba Dzung - Director General of the International Cooperation Department, Mr. Vu Thanh Hai - Director General of the Legal Affairs Department, Mr. Hoang Linh - Deputy Director General of the General Affairs, and Mr. Phan Truong Giang - Deputy Director General of the Specialized Audit Department No VII.
Mr. Metin Yener, the President of the Turkish Courts Account (TCA), warmly welcomed the high-level delegation of SAV to the working visit in Turkey and affirmed that TCA attaches great importance to the delegation's visit.
The Auditor General of SAV sincerely thanked the President and his colleagues for the warm and cordial reception that TCA extended to the delegation, affirming that this was the first official high-level bilateral exchange between the two countries, which was a meaningful visit, and would open up new prospects for future cooperation between SAV and TCA in regional and international forums.
The Auditor General of SAV, Mr. Ngo Van Tuan introduced to the leadership of TCA the history of establishment, legal status, development strategy of SAV to 2030, audit activities and highlighted SAV's international cooperation. He stated that "SAV was established in 1994, thus a young state audit office in comparison to other Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in the world and TCA. SAV's legal status was constitutionalized in 2013, acting as an office established by the National Assembly, operating independently and only obeying the law. Over the past 28 years, SAV has increasingly affirmed its position and role as an effective tool of the State and the National Assembly in monitoring the use and management of public finance and public assets."
Regarding SAV's audit activities in recent years, SAV has performed three main types of audits, including financial audits, compliance audits, and performance audits, which follow the SAV's standards and international auditing practices. SAV focuses on performing audit activities that attract special attention from the State and the people, such as performance audits and compliance audits.
The Auditor General of SAV affirmed that SAV has to put in more efforts to meet the increasing requirements for the supervision of public assets and public finances of the State and Vietnamese citizents. SAV has created a development strategy with three pillars and seven main contents, focusing on the legal framework, organizational system, human resources, improving the quality of audit, integration, international cooperation, information technology, high technology, etc.
Regarding international cooperation, since the early days of its establishment, SAV has determined that the orientation towards deep international integration is the solution to shortening the path of professional development to approaching international level. In addition to being a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), SAV is a co-founder of the ASEAN Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI). Currently, SAV maintains good relations and has signed memoranda of understanding with 20 SAIs and international accounting and auditing organisations around the world. SAV has recently accomplished the role of ASOSAI Chairman for the 2018–2021 term and is currently a member of the ASOSAI Executive Board for the 2021–2024 term. In particular, SAV is one of the four founding members of ASEANSAI and has maintained the position of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee of ASEANSAI for many terms.
Regarding cooperation results between SAV and TCA, Mr. Ngo Van Tuan said that TCA, with its rich experience and role as a member of the Executive Board and Audit Committee of ASOSAI through many terms, has always supported and assisited SAV in multilateral activities such as supporting SAV to become a member of the ASOSAI Executive Board for the period 2015-2018; attending and supporting the 14th ASOSAI Congress 2018 held in Viet Nam; and providing unanimous support for the decisions of SAV as President of ASOSAI at the 15th ASOSAI Congress in 2021, etc.
The Bilateral meeting between SAV Auditor General and TCA President.
From the left: SAV Auditor General, TCA President; Vietnamese Ambassador in Turkey, TCA Vice President
The President of TCA, Mr. Metin Yener introduced to the Auditor General of SAV, Mr. Ngo Van Tuan the functions and duties of TCA. Accordingly, TCA was established in 1862 with the original name "Divan-ı Muhasebat" and was renamed the Turkish Courts Account in 1967, with the function of public audit. The legal status of TCA was constitutionalized in the first Ottoman Constitution of 1876. During the Republic period, TCA's legal status continued to be re-constitutionalized in the Constitution in the years of 1924, 1961, 1982 and is in force to this day.
Currently, TCA has eight specialized audit units that perform three types of audits: financial audits, compliance audits, and performance audits, with a focus on the first two. For financial audits, auditors will evaluate and express their opinions on the true and fair view of the financial statements and reports of the public administration office and assess whether the decisions, financial transactions, and operations of such entities follow the laws and other regulatory requirements. In addition, TCA also assessed the internal control system and financial management system of the auditees. When performing a compliance audit, TCA reviews whether the revenues and expenditures, assets and other accounts and transactions of the auditees follow the law.
For performance audits, the auditors will assess whether public resources are being used efficiently, effectively, and economically. Furthermore, the auditors also assess whether the activities of the state administrative offices are carried out in accordance with the set objectives and targets.
For financial audits, TCA audits 600 public entities per year, of which 100% of central offices and 90% of local government offices are audited. TCA produces 9,000 audit findings on a yearly basis, including 7,000 audit findings at local government entities. Additionally, TCA conducts 3–4 thematic and IT audits annually.
TCA is one of ASOSAI active members, which holds the position of member on the Governing Board for many terms, including 2021-2024, 2015-2021, 2009-2012, 2006-2009, and was a member of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the terms of 2018-2021, 2012-2015, 2003-2006, 2000-2003. Currently, TCA is a member of the ASOSAI Governing Board for the 2021-2024 term and a member of the EUROSAI Governing Board for the 2021-2024 term,... TCA has strengths in the following areas: financial audit, performance audit, IT audit, international financial reporting standards; public procurement audit and so on.
The Auditor General of SAV, Mr. Ngo Van Tuan presents a souvenir to the President of TCA, Mr. Metin Yener
At the bilateral meeting, the Auditor General of SAV and the President of TCA highly agreed to upgrade the bilateral cooperation relationship to a new level of achievement. At the same time, both concurred that they will work to further solidify their existing positive collaboration relationship.
Following the meeting, the two offices agree to promote the exchange of high-level visits to assess the cooperation process and guide future cooperation activities; exchange technical expert delegations to share in-depth experiences in public audit; organize joint conferences and seminars on areas of common interest such as environmental audits, IT audits, and auction audits; TCA will send experts to train SAV's auditors in Viet Nam and invite SAV'scivil servants and auditors to Turkey to participate in seminars and conferences on specialized topics.
Mr. Ngo Van Tuan, SAV Auditor General, and Mr. Metin Yener, TCA President, agree to lay out a medium- and long-term cooperation orientation towards the signing of a bilateral cooperation MOU in the near future./.