Domestic and international experts gathered a conference in Hanoi on September 12 to work out measures to reinforce the government financial management information system (GFMIS).
The 2014 Conference – Exhibition Vietnam Finance, jointly held annuallyby the Ministry of Finance and International Data Group (IDG Vietnam), is considered a helpful networking platform and a hub of information sharing on IT solutions in the financial sector.
Deputy Finance Minister Tran Xuan Ha noted the significance of the event, , saying it would help Vietnam’s financial sector catch up with the latest development trends in the region and the world.
He called on the local finance sector to speed up its reform process and pay due attention to application of advanced technology in the future.
Participants delivered a wide range of best practices from regional countries in terms of technology, solutions and procedures to ensure effective and modern public finance management.
They gave an overview of the current deployment and improvements in the current GFMIS, which is considered a strategic financial management system, helping the Government to access accurate and timely financial information, ensure financial transparency and manage macroeconomic and monetary policies.
They shed light on Vietnam’s public finance reform strategy until 2020 approved by the Prime Minister in April 2012, aimed at building a healthy national finance, ensuring financial security, maintaining macroeconomic and financial-monetary stability, and increasing the efficiency of financial management.
They introduced initiatives to improve the GFMIS and shared experience in innovating the process of budget reporting and disclosure of budget accounts, boosting the reform of public administrative procedures in public finance towards an effective and modern finance sector.
The delegates discussed IT solutions to boost the formation of a GFMIS system in Vietnam via cloud data centres and risk management applications in tax management. They also touched upon global trends in public administrative reform and emphasised the need to enhance management of expenditure and revenue budget, as well as the use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) – a development trend towards a modern GFMIS.
Apart from in-depth discussions, an exhibition also took place to introduce state-of-the-art technologies and IT solutions of the world’s leading firms for a modern financial sector.
Since 2003, the Finance Ministry has strived to build and implement the Public Financial Management Reform Project (PFMRP). It received close attention to ensure close control of budgeted income and expenditures of the financial management agencies, State Treasury and other ministry and department-level agencies. TABMIS was officially put into operation in late 2013.
Regarding the project’s results, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa, said: “The project has significantly enhanced fiscal transparency internally between central and local government, supported timely decision-making and improved the efficiency of budget management, cash and payable accounts.”
“The project also facilitates budget audit process and payment transactions, promotes accountability and enhances the confidence of suppliers and development partners.”
“Successful deployment of this project can be considered a major step in the modernization of the financial sector, paving the way for the upcoming projects of the Ministry of Finance, aiming to develop a complete GFMIS in the future,” she added.
VOV
