With the release of the present volume, the ASOSAI Journal enters its third year of publication. The tentative explorations made three years back towards a strong and representative mouthpiece of the ASOSAI are now well within sight of its goal. Over these years the number of members of the ASOSAI has increased and so has the area of interrelationship and the need to learn from each other. Happily for the editors, the requests for contributions to the present Journal have met with a much larger and readier response than hither-to fore. The articles published reflect the diversity of the fields traversed by our member countries and indicate the wide horizon across which their audit activities are spread. As voiced in earlier editorial notes it would be worthwhile cataloguing the list of such activities for reference and use by member countries.
2. Since the last issue of the Journal a number of important events of interest to ASOSAI members have taken place. The most important of these was the Third ASOSAI Assembly and Second International Seminar in Tokyo from May 14 to May 21, 1985. The Board of Audit, Japan, were the gracious hosts. It saw the induction of more members into the Governing Body and also the reorganisation of the Audit Committee of the ASOSAI. There was wide participation in the Seminar on 'The role of SAIs in promoting Accountability' and the discussions led to the Tokyo Declaration of "Guidelines on Public Accountability". No words of praise would be adequate to describe the efficiency with which the proceedings of the Assembly and Seminar were conducted by the Chairman Board of Audit, Japan. The identity of views by the participants of the Seminar on the concept of 'Accountability' was remarkable.
The ASOSAI participated in the Sixth Inter-regional UN/INTOSAI Seminar held at Vienna from 2-12 October, 1984. The Theme of the Seminar was 'Public Auditing and Internal Management Control Systems in Developing Countries'. On behalf of the ASOSAI, India presented a paper on Sub-theme 'Role of SAI (i) in setting standards and (ii) in reviewing management control systems'. The paper was very well received.
3. The ASOSAPs role in promoting understanding and cooperation among member institutions through exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of Public Audit is being realised in no mean measure through training programmes and Seminars organised by the member countries. Getting together more frequently in such forums cannot be seen to be in the realm of possibility in the near future because of distances and expenses involved. A more effective way to reach and inter-act more frequently with one another ought to be through publications within easy reach of the member countries. It would be helpful if countries with more developed audit procedures and systems share their manuals and publications with other countries. The present issue of the Journal contains an audit profile of a member country. More such profiles need be published either through this Journal or separately and circulated to members. Audit mandates in different countries are bound to increase and undergo changes from time to time and opportunities for improving audit effectiveness by learning from each other's experiences should increase through greater inter-SAI communications. It would be interesting to receive member countries' suggestions in this regard.