Vietnam, Belgium strengthen cooperation in auditing

Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc (right) and President of the Court of Audit of Belgium Philippe Roland (Photo: VNA)

Brussels (VNA) – A delegation from the State Audit Office of Vietnam led by Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc had a working session with President of the Court of Audit of Belgium Philippe Roland in Brussels on February 26.

Welcoming the Vietnamese working session, Roland expressed his willingness to boost cooperation between the Court of Audit of Belgium and the State Audit Office of Vietnam in sharing experience and methods in audit such as operational audit and IT audit.

He shared experience in increasing his court’s capacity and presence at the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), and in applying information technology in operational audit.

Phoc expressed his hope that the two sides continue intensifying delegation exchanges, inviting each side’s representatives to participate in international conferences they organise or within the framework of activities held by INTOSAI and EUROSAI.

As the Chair of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), the State Audit Office of Vietnam is exerting efforts to contribute more to the development of ASOSAI and its members towards becoming a model working group of INTOSAI, he stated.

He said he hopes the Court of Audit of Belgium, with its role as an active member of INTOSAI and EUROSAI, will support ASOSAI in general and the State Audit Office of Vietnam in particular in governmental audit.

Previously, the delegation of the State Audit Office of Vietnam took part in the 7th international integrity seminar that opened in Budapest, Hungary, on February 24.

The seminar, organised by the State Audit Office of Hungary since 2014, focuses on integrity, transparency and corruption fight to provide specialised assistance for members of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

The State Audit Office of Vietnam handled over 72.8 trillion VND (3.1 billion USD) as of the last day of last year, heard a conference in Hanoi on January 8.

More than 10.2 trillion VND were collected to the State budget, while the State budget expenditure was reduced by over 16.8 trillion VND.

The office also proposed revising, supplementing, canceling or replacing 154 documents with shortcomings to avoid losses and wastefulness.

It also asked for the opinions from the National Assembly Standing Committee and Government on the implementation of the State budget in 2019 and State budget estimates in 2020, as well as the allocation of central budget this year.

Vietnam and Hungary set up diplomatic ties on February 3, 1950. In recent years, the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Hungary have been expanded and develop strongly in many areas.

The Belgian government is placing priority on a number of non-refundable projects in education, public health, water and sanitation in Vietnam, Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Paul Jansen.

Belgium is currently the sixth largest trade partner of Vietnam in the EU, with two-way trade in 2018 reaching 2.88 billion USD, of which the trade value of agricultural produce accounted for 413 million USD. Vietnam exports seafood, coffee, cashew, rice and wood products to Belgium, and imports milk and dairy products, animal feed and pesticide.

Vietnam has opened door for Belgian beef and pears, and Vietnamese fruit and vegetables have gained access to the Belgian market.

Touching on investment cooperation, Belgium ranked 23th out of 132 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation, with registered capital of 1.03 billion USD in 70 projects as of September 30, 2019. Most of the projects are in real estate, water supply, sewage treatment, processing and manufacturing, and power production./.