What was the most important thing that was learnt from the audit of state-owned enterprises in 2006?

We found that budget management in most of the units audited has improved. Contribution to the State Budget by state-owned companies has also increased 22% more than targeted, to reach 19% year-on-year. Government departments at all levels have also actively communicated anti-corruption programmes.

What is the biggest problem about the way the State Budget is used? What are the reasons for this and how can it be avoided?

The biggest problems relate to the improper use of the State Budget. Many people blame Government policies for the improper use. However, I think it is because people don’t have sufficient awareness of the law. Experience has shown us that if a company has a determined leader and a good internal control system, their budget management will be good.

In addition to this, some departments have poor understanding of the fundamentals of budget management. For instance, if they have money left over from a sum designated for a particular project, they will put that money towards another purpose.

They do not understand that money can only be spent on the project that it was designated for. This has happened many times with money intended for the poverty reduction 135 Programme.

What they spend the money on may be equally important, but doing so affects the nation’s ability to achieve its overall goals. With the 135 Programme example, we have asked provincial offices to refund any money from the programme that they misspent and find another source to fill the gap.

I think we need to better organise the public finance system to give more deciding powers to State Budget users with specific solutions to ensure a smoother run.

The auditing report has come under criticism that it does not reflect the real financial situation in State-owned enterprises. Was there any pressure on the State Audit of Vietnam?

I think that this report is more detailed and better than ever before. We were not under any pressure from higher departments, and we made public everything that the law allowed us to.

The activities of all banks, even the State Bank, have been made public. We also came up with 16 detailed recommendations for the Government after completing the report.

Under the report, two files were forwarded to the Ministry of Public Security for further investigation. Does this reflect the real number of enterprises with inconsistencies in their finances?

It could be said that this is too high a number, or too small. Last year we did not forward any files, and we may have to forward more files in the future. No one can say for sure.

It is our rule that any violations are reported to the relevant departments. We always send an official letter to the provincial People’s Committee before conducting our audits. The final verdict and proposed punishments are also sent to the relevant departments.

We have sent three suspicious files to the General Tax Department for further investigation, and they will only be forwarded to the Inspection Department if evidence of a serious violation is found.

Businesses will not be able to function if we try to "criminalise" all our findings without good reason. But I also agree that we need to pay more attention to anti-corruption campaigns.

In the near future, the Government Inspectorate, the State Audit of Viet Nam and other departments will sign a circular on providing information that helps anti-corruption activities on the department’s website.

Should the department increase the number of audit campaigns it conducts every year, and shorten the period of each audit?

Based on the scale and number of businesses we will consider increasing the number of audits each year. We audited only 25% of all State companies in 2005.

Last year, we covered 48%. We already publish reports annually, but we intend to further shorten the time between reports.

The results will be published on the department’s website and in other publications. During this year, we will also release reports on Project 112 (Government Computerisation), the National Education Programme, Programme 135 (poverty reduction) and some other important projects.

Source: Viet Nam News.