SAV Auditor General and ASOSAI Chairman Ho Duc Phoc (centre) and other participants at the meeting (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The State Audit ofVietnam (SAV) on December 22 organised a kick-off meeting for a cooperativeenvironmental audit on water management in the Mekong River basin for 2020-2021.
The meeting took place under the chair of SAV Auditor General and Chairman of the Asian Organisation of Supreme AuditInstitutions (ASOSAI) Ho Duc Phoc.
In his opening remarks, Phoc said the HanoiDeclaration on “Environmental Audit for Sustainable Development” wasapproved at the 14th ASOSAI Assembly in 2018.
The document defines two major strategic goals for ASOSAIin the subsequent period: bolstering environmental auditing, and promoting issues relatingto the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
As Chair of ASOSAI for the 2018-2021 term and theinitiator of the Hanoi Declaration, the SAV has exerted every effort in theimplementation of activities and initiatives to realise the document, including the organisation of a cooperative environmental audit on water management in the Mekong River basin for 2020-2021 in several Southeast Asian nations, the officialadded.
In the face of the emergency regarding watersecurity in countries in the Mekong River’s lower reaches, it is time for theSAV to join hands with Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in Southeast Asia inholding the audit, he affirmed.
During the kick-off meeting, three SAIs from Vietnam,Thailand, and Myanmar signed a statement of commitments and terms of referencefor the cooperative audit, agreeing on an action plan for its organisation.
Accordingly, they will focus on identifying the responsibilitiesof related countries in the implementation of the SGDs, and assess theircontributions to commitments on water resources management, use, and protectionin the Mekong River basin./.
