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Laos, Vietnam team up to strengthen auditing systems
Laos and Vietnam have agreed to help each other strengthen their auditing capacity amid growing demands for more transparent financial management in the two countries.
To this end, Lao State Audit Organisation President Dr Bouasy Lorvanxay and his Vietnamese counterpart Mr Dinh Tien Dung signed a cooperation package between their organisations in Vientiane yesterday.
The agreement forms part of the economic, political and cultural cooperation plan between Laos and Vietnam from 2011 to 2015. Strengthening their auditing capacity will help the two countries ensure effective, efficient and transparent financial management amid rapid economic growth.
After the opening of the Lao Securities Exchange in 2010, auditing firms are playing a greater role by helping the government to collect more revenue and further the country's National Socio-Economic Development Plan.
Investors will not buy the shares of companies listed on the stock market if they do not trust the reputations of the firms which are auditing them. The Lao Securities Exchange has recognised the auditing services of only a few companies, all of them foreign.
Lao auditing firms need to improve the services they provide in terms of competency and ethical conduct if they want to win the trust of shareholders, it has been acknowledged.
Speaking at yesterday's meeting, Dr Bouasy sincerely thanked the Vietnamese side for their assistance in strengthening the capacity of Lao auditing organisations in recent years.
The Vietnamese auditing body has provided training for Lao auditors as well as opportunities for Lao and Vietnamese auditors to meet and share their experiences, he said, adding that their Vietnamese partner had also provided Laos with new computers and other equipment.
Dr Bouasy said the Lao State Audit Organisation was established in 1998. The National Assembly approved the Law on Audit in 2007, giving the state body the legal teeth needed to perform its duty. The Lao State Audit Organisation now employs 154 people nationwide.
He said that in the 2010-11 fiscal year, the body audited 11 state enterprises, and 24 foreign loan and grant development projects operating in the areas of transport, education, health, rural area development, banking and tourism.
The Lao State Audit Organisation not only sought cooperation with its Vietnamese counterpart but also with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia in an effort to further its development.
vientiane times
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