New York (VNA) – Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc on August 30 met with officials of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in New York to exchange experience in auditing Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and discuss cooperation possibility.
Director ofthe UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific Haoliang Xu congratulated the SAV on the achievements it has obtained in recent years, saying the supreme auditoffice plays a crucial role in ensuring full transparency and accountability inthe public sector of UN member states, which facilitate economic growth andstrengthen public confidence in the governments.
Phoc, for hispart, thanked the UNDP for supporting the SAV through the ProjectVIE/02/008-KTNN for the 2003-2010 term. The project has helped the SAV make major steps in enhancing thelegal framework of its operation and issue many important documents, he said.
The SAV hasbeen active in sharing experience in SDGs auditing, he said, noting that the SAVhas joined a conference on audit of the SDGs implementation preparedness among headsof state audit offices of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and will host a ASEANSupreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI) seminar on SDGs audit experience sharing nextyear.
It hasacknowledged its role and responsibility in auditing SDGs-related contents andis striving to strengthen its capacity in this matter, he added.
UNDPofficials, including Team Leader for SDG Integration Laurel Patterson, Head ofWater and Ocean Governance Programme Andrew Hudson and data developmentspecialist Surge Kerto shared with the SAV experience in environmental audit, information technologyaudit, and particularly SDGs audit.
Concluding themeeting, Phoc said he expects the SAV will receive greater support from theUNDP in performing SDGs audit and organising SDGs audit training courses,seminars and conferences within the Asian Organisation of Supreme AuditInstitutions (ASOSAI) and ASEANSAI.
Founded in1965, the UNDP is the UN’s global development network that advocates for changeand connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help peoplebuild a better life for themselves. Vietnam inked a cooperation agreement withthe UNDP in 1978 and the two sides have implemented joint projects since then.–VNA