Speaking at the seminar on the theme "Vietnamese Accounting - Future and Prospects" held on May 25th in Hanoi, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue stated that the auditing and accounting sector needs a complete transformation from the inside out, including institutional reforms, legal regulations, standardized policies, and the training and recruitment of highly qualified human resources to prepare for the future.
Twenty-five years is a long journey of innovation and reform, yielding immense achievements that have contributed to improving the business and investment environment both domestically and internationally, leading to healthier economic and financial relations and a healthier national financial system.
The auditing and accounting system has donned a new look.
The ASEAN economy is operating and developing increasingly strongly, with a trend towards integration and globalization, especially in economics and finance, auditing and accounting, and exchange and interaction, in a more comprehensive and profound way. Many agreements will be signed, allowing not only goods and services but also foreign investment capital, foreign exchange, and human resources, including accounting and auditing personnel, to move more freely.
The digital age, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the emergence of cloud computing, will have a profound impact on economies in general and the Vietnamese economy in particular. It will also enhance the efficiency of processing, synthesizing, transmitting, and providing information, especially accounting and auditing information worldwide. Therefore, it necessitates changes in the processes, methods, and approaches for creating, verifying, collecting, processing, and evaluating information, as well as the ways in which information is transmitted, received, exploited, and stored.
This presents both opportunities and challenges, as well as a chance for Vietnam to completely reform its accounting and auditing system.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, the competence of accountants and auditors should not only be limited to knowledge and professional skills, but also include organizational skills, information management, network management, analytical and evaluative skills, forecasting skills, consulting skills, skills in exploiting and operating networks, and information security, especially economic and financial information provided by accountants. In the future, training and development of accounting and auditing human resources will need fundamental changes in curriculum, content, and training methods.
Accounting and auditing professional institutions and organizations need to effectively fulfill their roles and responsibilities in training certified accountants and auditors, organizing educational and professional development activities, and enhancing and developing the capabilities of accountants and auditors in accordance with professional education practices and standards… aiming to build a strong accounting and auditing industry in Vietnam that meets the new requirements of the integration era.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Dang Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Accountants and Auditors, the workshop serves as a forum for experts, accountants, and auditors to exchange ideas and provide insights on globalization trends, assess the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital technology on accounting and auditing; determine the roadmap and methods for successfully applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Vietnam; and develop auditing, including State Audit, Independent Audit, and Internal Audit in Vietnam, in accordance with international auditing practices and standards.
The workshop also shared information and experiences on innovation and development in accounting and auditing, including State Audit and Independent Audit; and identified impacts and proactively developed solutions to fundamentally change the methods of creating and processing information, as well as the methods of checking, evaluating, summarizing, and providing information, especially accounting and auditing information. This was also an opportunity for Vietnam to learn from international experience, formulate and implement necessary solutions, from unifying understanding and improving economic institutions to establishing new accounting and auditing processes, developing and improving the quality of human resources, and preparing the technical conditions for Vietnamese accounting and auditing in the new phase.
According to State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc, the development goal by 2030 is to develop the State Audit Office into a crucial and effective tool of the Party and State in inspecting and controlling the management and use of public finances and public assets; to provide strong support and service to the activities of the National Assembly, the Government, People's Councils, and People's Committees of localities in performing their functions of legislation, supervision, management, and decision-making on important national issues; to improve the capacity and efficiency of the audit system, ensuring its operation is open, transparent, professional, standardized, and progressively modern, worthy of being the agency for inspecting public finances and assets.
Mr. Ho Duc Phoc stated that in the coming time, a complete and comprehensive legal framework for the organization and operation of the State Audit Office will be finalized. This includes supplementing the right to make recommendations and complaints regarding audit reports for relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to ensure the rights of audited entities and to further enhance transparency in the operation of the state audit system; and adding the task of forensic examination of public finances and public assets in corruption cases, significantly contributing to the effective resolution of cases and incidents requiring independent forensic examination by specialized agencies in litigation.
The State Audit Office of Vietnam affirmed that, in order to successfully implement the State Audit Development Strategy for the period 2020-2030, with a vision to 2035, it requires the responsible and dedicated participation of all relevant organizations and individuals. In particular, the audit sector must prepare itself to seize every opportunity and confront challenges in each period with strong political determination for the development of the State Audit Office.
