New York (VNA) – Auditor General of the State AuditOffice of Vietnam (SAV) Ngo Van Tuan has met with United Nations Under-Secretary-Generalfor Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua at the UN headquarters in New York.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a global meetingon the engagement of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in assessing national climateaction on March 25 - 26.

Tuan said climate change is now one of the most discussedtopics around the world. As an active and responsible member of theInternational Organisation of SAIs (INTOSAI) and the Governing Board of the AsianOrganisation of SAIs (ASOSAI) in the 2015 - 2024 period and to implement thecommitments under the Hanoi Declaration on environmental auditing for sustainabledevelopment, the SAV identified environmental auditing as one of its focuses toenhance both the quality and quantity of audits.

Giving a brief introductionof the SAV’s activities and its engagement in international cooperation inenvironmental, climate change, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) auditing,he noted that the SAV initiated and chaired an audit on the management of waterresources in the Mekong River Basin in 2021 which also involved the SAIs ofThailand and Myanmar.

The SAV has also activelytaken part in training courses, meetings, and webinars on environmental andSDGs auditing held by other countries’ SAIs, partners, and organisations in theregion and the world, he added.

The Auditor General proposed the UN Under-Secretary-Generalpromote the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)’s assistanceand sharing of auditing information, research, and publications onenvironmental and social affairs so that the SAV can use them as sources ofreference.

UNDESA and the SAV can also develop cooperative ties throughmultilateral cooperation forums on environmental, climate change, and SDGsauditing, Tuan suggested.

Under-Secretary-General Li highly valued the SAV’s participationin the global meeting, during which it shared its experience in this field,thus reflecting the voice of developing countries and boosting the exchange of environmentalauditing experience.

The UN official noted that he is impressed with the SAV’sunceasing efforts to help with environmental protection and climate changeadaptation. He also voiced the readiness to assist the SAV in capacitybuilding, information technology application, and big data use.

On the sidelines of the global meeting, Tuan also met with and invited Bruno Dantas, President of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts andChair of INTOSAI, to attend a ceremony marking the 30th foundinganniversary of Vietnam’s audit sector. The Brazilian side said it will sendsenior officials to the event.

The Auditor General of Vietnam also had separate meetingswith the auditors general of India and Turkey to promote bilateral cooperationand seek support from the two countries’ SAIs for the SAV’s candidacy formembership of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the 2024 - 2027 tenure.

The SAIs of India and Turkey showed their support for the SAV’scandidacy. The Auditor General of Turkey also voiced the hope to visit the SAVin 2025./.