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Fellow Name: Thang Huu Nguyen

Country: Vietnam

Fellow’s home audit office: State Audit Office of Vietnam

Title: Auditor

Email: thangnh@sav.gov.vn

Audit Plan Topic: Protection of the Duong river’s domestic water safeguard zone in the period 2021-2023

Canadian Host Office: Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Grad Quote: “When I return to Vietnam, I hope I can share the good practices from OAG Canada when conducting an audit, as well as skills that I learned from CAAF.”

Gallery (2023-2024):

Two experience images (2023-2024):

Decoration Color: Red

Profile Headshot:

My Fellowship:

My Canadian placement:

Office of the Auditor General (OAG) of Canada

My Canadian audit team:

I was part of a team working on an audit of oceans management, led by Director Susie Fortier.

My most valuable learning:

My most valuable lesson is about how to approach an audit topic, getting knowledge of business and assessing risks and controls of the matter.

How my Canadian colleagues and mentors helped me:

My teammates helped me to understand how to work on an audit in an online environment. My mentors helped me with audit methodology in planning for my audit topic and finding different sources of references.

What I enjoyed most:

What I enjoyed most is working virtually, since it provides so much flexibility with working hours and everything can be done online, no paper is needed.

My audit plan:

I developed my audit plan with the guidance of my mentor at the OAG of Canada, Principal James McKenzie.

The connection to my country’s development priorities:

My audit topic will help to ensure the quality of domestic water in Vietnam. It is related to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 in Vietnam: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

How CAAF and my host office helped:

In addition to audit methodology, CAAF helped me to improve on different aspects of auditing, such as leadership skills, teamwork, and integrating the SDGs. OAG Canada showed me how a performance audit is conducted in a real setting, including budget management, auditee communication, and assigning tasks to team members.

The skills and knowledge I improved by developing this plan:

I learned how to identify a suitable scope for my audit, considering the time and human resources available. I also learned how to develop an appropriate evidence gathering strategy for a performance audit.

My future impact:

The new knowledge I’m most excited to share with my colleagues:

I am excited to share with my colleagues how the differences in government systems between Canada and Vietnam lead to different approaches for audits, and the procedures that auditors in OAG Canada use in an audit.

The difference I hope to make:

With my audit topic, I hope to help Vietnam achieve SDG 6 and further integrate gender equality analysis in making decisions.

My professional goals:

When I return to Vietnam, I hope I can share the good practices from OAG Canada when conducting an audit, as well as skills that I learned from CAAF.

My Experience Part 1:

The most Canadian thing I did was…

Saying “sorry” all the time even when it is not needed.

My favourite cultural experience in Canada was…

Seeing how Canadians respect nature.

My Experience Part 2:

My Fellowship experience in one sentence:

My Fellowship not only helped me improve my skills in auditing, but also provided me with unique experiences of beautiful Canadian people and nature.

My Fellowship in a single word:

Holistic.

Now that I have completed the Fellowship…

I am more aware of good practices in performance auditing.

Gender: Male

Thang holds a Master of Science degree in economics from Queen Mary University of London. He has worked at the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) for more than four years and is currently assigned to Specialized Audit Department No III. At the SAV, he has mostly performed financial-compliance audits of the budget implementation of social ministries (e.g., Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Health). He conducted an environmental audit on environmental protection in industrial clusters and craft villages in Tu Son city, Bac Ninh province, for the period of 2019-2021.

My goals for the Fellowship

I am most hopeful that during my Fellowship I will be able to:

• Learn about performance audit theory and practice. I am particularly interested in learning more about how performance audits are used to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and activities.
• Learn how governments work in Canada and in other Fellows’ countries. I am eager to learn about the different ways in which governments operate in different countries, and I believe that this experience will be invaluable in my future career as an auditor.
• Develop my teamwork, planning, and audit topic selection skills. I am confident that the Fellowship will provide me with the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with experienced auditors, and I am excited to develop these essential skills.

The impact I hope to make as a graduate Fellow

After I complete my Fellowship, I hope to make a significant difference in the State Audit Office of Vietnam and in my country as a whole by contributing to the development of the SAV’s performance audit practice and raising the profile of performance audit among SAV colleagues.