A Decade of Progress: Uncovering $740,000 Billion and Counting – How the Supreme Audit Institution is Transforming Vietnam’s Economy

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai emphasized that the establishment of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) was an objective necessity and an indispensable requirement in perfecting the management of the country’s financial resources, preventing corruption, waste, negativity, and state budget loss.

Implementing the Party’s comprehensive renewal policy in the 1990s, the country’s financial and budgetary management underwent many changes, adapting to the renewal process, adapting to the socialist-oriented market economy with state management, and especially adapting to international practices. We have witnessed the birth of the Law on State Budget, tax laws, the Law on State Audit, and the birth of specialized organizations in the financial sector such as treasury, tax, customs, and especially the SAV.

Over 30 years of formation and development, the SAV has overcome all difficulties and challenges. The collective leadership of the SAV, civil servants, officials, and employees have made continuous efforts, making solid and comprehensive progress with many proud achievements.

From an agency “assisting the Prime Minister in performing the function of inspecting, confirming the correctness and legality of accounting documents and data, and the settlement reports of state agencies, non-business units, state-owned economic units, and mass organizations, social organizations using the budget allocated by the State”, the SAV’s legal status is a government agency, and its legal framework for operation is a Government Decree. The SAV has risen to become an agency established by the National Assembly, operating independently and complying only with the law, conducting audits of the management and use of finance and public assets. Its legal status is constitutionally recognized in the 2013 Constitution, and it operates under the Law on State Audit. The SAV has made a significant advance in defining its legal status and functions and role.

Throughout the past 30 years, at every stage and period of development, the SAV has always proactively followed the guidelines and policies of the Party and State to effectively perform its assigned tasks. Audit activities have been gradually renewed in content and methods, and quality has been continuously improved. The SAV increasingly affirms its role as an important and effective tool of the Party and State in inspecting and controlling the management and use of finance and public assets…

The SAV’s audit results have helped agencies, units, and localities to correctly assess and evaluate the management and use of finance and public assets, promoting strengths and overcoming weaknesses. The audit results also detected many shortcomings and limitations in mechanisms and policies and proposed competent agencies to amend, supplement, and perfect the legal system. The SAV’s activities have also made an important contribution to the transparency of the national finance; the fight against corruption, negativity, waste, and the effective use of the country’s resources.

Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan said: “30 years ago, the SAV was established under Decree 70/CP dated July 11, 1994, of the Government. From the early days of difficulties and shortages of human resources and working facilities, but with the determination of the generations of officers over the periods and the attention, leadership, and enthusiastic support of the leaders of the Party, National Assembly, and Government, and the coordination and assistance of the central ministries, branches, and localities, up to now, the SAV’s apparatus has been completed

State audit has a history of hundreds of years of development in the world. In our country, the State Audit Office of Vietnam was established 30 years ago. Although facing many difficulties and shortages, with the determination of the generations of officers over the periods and the attention, leadership, and enthusiastic support of the leaders of the Party, National Assembly, and Government, and the coordination and assistance of the central ministries, branches, and localities, up to now, the State Audit Office of Vietnam’s apparatus has been completed with 32 units (9 advisory units, 8 specialized State Audit Offices, 13 regional State Audit Offices, and 2 units) and more than 2,000 civil servants, officials, and employees.

Summarizing the audit results since its establishment up to now, the SAV has detected and proposed the handling of nearly VND 740,000 billion, of which the proposal for increasing state budget revenue and reducing expenditures accounts for more than 40%. In addition, the SAV has proposed to amend, supplement, replace, and abolish more than 2,200 legal documents and management documents that are wrong or inconsistent with the provisions of the State and reality; in which, many valuable opinions have been proposed to perfect some important legal documents such as the Law on State Budget, Land Law, Law on Tax Administration, Law on Public Investment, Law on Anti-Corruption, and Law on Social Insurance…

At the workshop, the delegates shared many opinions and materials, contributing to deepening the unique and unique features in the process of building and developing the State Audit Office of Vietnam, as well as drawing lessons learned from 30 years of building and developing, exchanging and proposing orientations and solutions with strategic significance for the development of the State Audit Office of Vietnam to become stronger.