(sav.gov.vn) - On the morning of September 7, at the headquarters of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam (SAV), Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan hosted a courtesy meeting with a delegation from the Lao National Assembly led by Mr. Sommad Pholsena, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).
The delegation included leader representatives of the People's Council of Luang Prabang Province; the Planning, Finance, and the People's Council of Vientiane; the People's Council of Sekong Province; along with several standing members of the National Assembly representing various provinces. The meeting was also attended by Ms. Khamphao Ernthavanh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao PDR of the Lao PDR to Viet Nam.
Present at the meeting from SAV side were Deputy Auditor General Ha Thi My Dzung, leaders of subordinate units such as the General Affairs Department, Administrative Department, International Cooperation Department.
From the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, the meeting welcomed Ms. Tran Thi Hong An, permanent member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Mr. Le Minh Nam, permanent member of the Finance-Budget Committee; and Ms. Vu Thi Ngoc Quynh, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Department, Office of the National Assembly.
At the beginning of the meeting, Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan expressed gratitude to the Vice Chairman of the Lao National Assembly and the delegation for visiting and working at the SAV. He noted that the visit underscores the support and attention from the Lao National Assembly and Government towards the activities and cooperation between SAIs of Lao and Viet Nam. He also thanked leaders and staff from the Foreign Affairs Committee, Finance and Budget Committee, and Economic Committee of the National Assembly of Viet Nam for their collaboration in organizing this visit.
Mr. Somphat Phonesena expressed appreciation for the warm reception of SAV and stated: “The State Audit Office plays a significant position and role as a supervisory body, assisting the National Assembly in ensuring transparency in public financial management and asset utilization. In Laos, our Government and National Assembly also pay great attention to the public auditing. We particularly focus on enhancing the quality and capacity of the State Audit Organisation’s personnel. The longstanding friendly relationship between Laos and Viet Nam is complemented by close cooperation between the two SAIs. We highly value the support of the SAV to the Lao State Audit Organisation and hope to continue learning the experiences from SAV in the future.”
After providing information on Viet Nam's socio-economic situation and the activities of SAV, Tuan discussed the results of cooperation between the two SAIs in recent years. He highlighted that people have witnessed the consistent development of this special bond since the establishment of Lao SAI in 1998. Back on November 10, 2000 when the first cooperation agreement between signed on which was then renewed on November 24, 2022, many effective collaborative activities have been implemented, addressing the professional requirements and training needs of Lao colleagues. Some notable activities maybe named as exchange of leader-level and technical level delegations, organization of numerous conferences and seminars on sharing professional experiences, cooperative audits, provision of mutual support in organizational development and personnel training, as well as equipment and information.
Through these collaborative activities, SAV has helped enhance the legal status of Lao SAI, which was formally enshrined in the amended constitution at the end of 2015. SAV also assisted in the drafting and issuance of the Law on State Audit in 2006. Thanks to those improvements, the organizational structure and institutional framework of the Lao counterpart office have been gradually improved. Many professional topics of interest have been shared to Lao colleagues to help enhance its expertise and regional integration.
The cooperation between the two agencies has also been incorporated in the bilateral cooperation agreement between the two governments since 2015. Funding for short-term training activities has been allocated in 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, and 2024. In addition to bilateral and various multilateral cooperation frameworks in audit profession, SAV has also collaborated with the Lao-Viet Nam Joint Venture Bank and Unitel telecommunications, a subsidiary of Viettel, to support the its Lao brother office in modernizing its office governance activities (2022-2024), contributing to the modernization of audit activities in Laos.
Regarding future cooperation directions and solutions to enhance collaboration effectiveness, Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan emphasized the need to further strengthen comprehensive cooperation between the two agencies, reflecting the friendly neighboring relationship between Viet Nam and Laos. He called for efforts to attract external resources to promote stable and long-term cooperative activities and continue mutual support in multilateral forums, particularly within the frameworks of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), the Southeast Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI), and the trilateral cooperation forum between Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam, to enhance the value and benefits for both parties and organizations.
Tuan underlined: “SAV will support SAO of Lao further, especially in applying information technology and digital transformation, in training, and sending our auditors to assist the Lao State Audit Organisation. We hope that the Lao National Assembly and Government will continue to support the enhancement of professional exchanges between the two Organisations and facilitate our continued effective cooperation.”
He also expressed the desire that in the future, the bilateral cooperative relationship between the SAIs of Viet Nam and Lao would continue to develop meaningfully and effectively, meeting the increasing demands for the roles, functions, and duties of each agency, in line with the great friendly relationship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperative friendship between the two countries.
Right after the meeting, the members of the Lao National Assembly delegation visited the SAV’s chamber.