Enhancing Government Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Transparency in Budget Utilization

The participants at the seminar “State Audit: Today’s Impressions” shared their insights as part of the workshop “State Audit – 30 years of construction and development,” held on July 3 in Hanoi.

In his speech at the seminar, Mr. Hoang Xuan Anh, Vice Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Committee of Cao Bang province, shared that over the years, the activities of the State Audit Office (SAO) have always played an important role in supporting local authorities to accurately assess their strengths, advantages, as well as challenges and limitations in managing and utilizing public finances and assets efficiently and effectively, in compliance with current legal regulations.

Over time, while the frequency of audits has not increased, the scope of audits has expanded to include in-depth topics relevant to practical and timely social concerns, and the quality of audit activities has improved.

Based on audit findings, the SAO has made recommendations to increase state budget revenues in the region, reduce expenditures, and save state budget funds, thereby creating additional financial resources for local development. More importantly, the audit activities have helped audited units address existing limitations in budget management and investment project administration, improve their internal control systems, and enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in managing and utilizing public finances and assets.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Vice Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, shared that over the years, the SAO has dispatched dozens of audit teams to the Committee and state-owned enterprises as part of its annual plan. These audits have covered a diverse range of areas, including financial audits, restructuring audits, compliance audits, and special topic audits related to capital construction, enterprise restructuring, and post-equitization capital management.

The information provided by the SAO has helped the Committee and state-owned enterprises make informed decisions regarding their investment and business operations, safeguarding and growing their capital. Additionally, the SAO’s insights have assisted authorities in amending mechanisms and policies, creating a more favorable legal corridor for enterprises, and plugging loopholes to prevent state asset losses during investment activities.

The representative of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises expressed their hope to continue receiving effective and practical recommendations from the SAO to enhance their management of state capital and assets, ensure efficient investment and business operations of corporations and general companies, contribute to the country’s socio-economic development, and successfully fulfill their assigned political tasks.

Along with acknowledging the SAO’s valuable contributions to the management and administration of the state budget, public finances, and assets, Mr. Nguyen Van Thi, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province, particularly emphasized the role of the SAO in helping local authorities improve the quality of human resources tasked with executing duties at the provincial and departmental levels.

To that end, the SAO has collaborated with the province to organize numerous training courses and workshops. They have supported local authorities in enhancing the knowledge of elected officials in the fields of finance and budgeting, as well as in developing, amending, and promulgating draft laws, normative legal documents, and policies related to the activities of the SAO, the People’s Councils, and the People’s Committees, as stipulated by law.

Mr. Thi also expressed his hope that the SAO would continue to assist the province in conducting specialized training courses to help departments and localities understand complex areas such as land law, public assets, and issues related to the environment and minerals.

From the perspective of a National Assembly agency, Mr. Le Minh Nam, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee, shared his impression of the SAO’s recommendations regarding the review, amendment, and supplementation of legal documents.

According to Mr. Le Minh Nam, issues related to the system of legal documents have a significant impact on management and administration, and this impact extends to society as a whole. Therefore, the SAO’s recommendations on improving legal documents and policies, if timely addressed by relevant agencies, will contribute to refining the legal framework for management, enhancing management effectiveness, and ensuring scientific and practical approaches that are informed by the insights of professionals, not just subjective sentiments.