The request was made by Vietnamese State Auditor General Dinh Tien Dung at a meeting with New Zealand Controller and Auditor-General Lyn Provost on December 12 during his visit to New Zealand from December 12-16.

SAV wants to learn about the relationship between the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General and Audit and other Parliamentary and Governmental agencies as well as its governing legislation, said Mr Dung, adding that SAV is proposing for its legal status written in the Constitution of Vietnam.

Ms Provost said she has assigned leading audit experts to assist SAV in professional issues.

For his part, Mr Dung sincerely thanked Ms Provost and invited her to visit Vietnam in the coming time.

The Controller and Auditor-General (the Auditor-General) is an Officer of Parliament. Her mandate and responsibilities are set out in the Public Audit Act 2001.

The Auditor-General is independent of executive government and Parliament in discharging the functions of the statutory office, but is answerable to Parliament for her stewardship of the public resources entrusted to her.

Parliament seeks independent assurance that public sector organisations are operating, and accounting for their performance, in accordance with Parliament’s intentions. There is also a need for independent assurance of local government.

Local authorities are accountable to the public for the activities they fund through locally raised revenue. As an Officer of Parliament, the Auditor-General provides this independent assurance to both Parliament and the public.

The Auditor-General employs about 350 staff, based in eight locations throughout New Zealand and engaged about 60 audit service providers, as well as Audit New Zealand, to carry out annual audits of public entities.