Hosted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the 6th Assembly and 5th International Seminar of the Asian Organization Supreme Audit Institutions was held in New Delhi from November 13-19,1994. It was in an atmosphere of regional unity with a spirit of rededication for forging multifaceted cooperation and strengthening the role of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) that 73 delegates from 20 member countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China, Cyprus, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Yemen) participated in the week long programme. Also participating were 17 observers from Bhutan, Hong Kong, Macau, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the INTOSAI Development Initiative, Secretary General of a sister Regional Group namely OLACEFS, the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.
The inaugural ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan on November 13 began with the traditional lighting of lamp by the Chief Guest, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, Vice President of India. In his address, Mr. Narayanan extolled the role played by state audit in national development, and noted that the executive need not be audit shy.
Vice-President of India, H.E. K.R.Narayanan
inaugurating the 6th Assembly and
5th International Seminar
Mr. Narayanan said that any good government would welcome audit scrutiny because it helps clarify and legitimize government decisions. He also pointed out that an independent audit institution is undoubtedly an important state organ, especially in a democratic system in which accountability is the very essence of public administration. Mr. Narayanan also released a special postal cover to commemorate the occasion.
In his welcome address the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Mr. C.G. Somiah, reviewed the achievements of ASOSAI during the fifteen years since its inception, and pointed out that audit is taking a stronger role in improving public administration in general.
| "There are some misconceptions regarding the role and
functions of state audit. Audit is no longer confirmed to the
financial transactions and statements. It indeed ranges over the entire
field of public administration. The scope of audit has been gradually
expanding in response to the changing nature of public accountability. The
role of audit is not necessarily to criticize what happened, with
so-called hindsight. It is assiduously developing a constructive role of
suggesting remedial measures and further improvements no! only in accounting
and internal controls but also in public administration in general.''' C.G.Somiah |
Mr. Guo Zhenqian, the outgoing Chairman of ASOSAI and Auditor General of the People's Republic of China noted that New Delhi was the venue of the first Assembly and that ASOSAI had progressed enormously over the last 15 years with its members playing an active role in its development.
Special invitee Dr. Manmohan Singh, India's Finance Minister stated that audit work has to be organized to help check waste and inefficiency in raising and using resources; at the same time it should not in any way affect the ability and incentive for exercising creativity and initiative in providing government services. Dr. Singh stressed that the fear of audit must not lead to the creation of a mind-set in public administration which is averse to innovation and risk taking and which inhibits speedy decision-making processes.
Mr. Shinji Yazaki, Secretary General of ASOSAI and President of the Board of Audit of Japan, delivered the "vote of thanks" and reminded members that all of ASOSAI's accomplishments have been made possible by member SAI's common understanding that their mutual cooperation greatly contributes to the higher quality of government auditing.
| "Looking at the future development of public auditing,
government financial and administrative activities, as you are aware, will
continue to expand in countries world-wide, having great impact on national
economy and people's life. These government activities are also becoming
highly technical and complex. Taxpayers1 expectations of SAIs thus are
increasingly growing, and requiring them to constantly evaluate
these widening and diversifying government activities and thereby promote
their efficiency and effectiveness." Shinji Yazaki |
Apart from the opening and closing ceremonies, there were three plenary and three sub-theme committee sessions where organizational matters, future activities and the seminar theme were discussed. In addition, several social and cultural functions as well as conducted tours kept the delegates, observers and those accompanying them, busy throughout the week. Separate programmes had been arranged for the accompanying persons. The heads of delegations also paid a courtesy call on the President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma.
Heads of Delegation calling on the President
of India, H.E. Shankar Dayal
Sharma
The theme of the seminar, "The Role of SAI in Promoting Effective Accounting and Adequate Internal Control System in government", was considered under the three sub-theme headings: -
The principal papers on the sub-themes were contributed by the SAIs of Thailand, Malaysia and Korea respectively. The principal paper writers prepared comparative review papers on their topics incorporating the responses to the principal papers received from other member SAIs. The comparative review papers were discussed earlier at a workshop organized in Tokyo, Japan during July 1994 and draft recommendations made for consideration at the New Delhi Seminar.
Assembly Session in progress
The three sub-theme committees, constituted by the Assembly in its first plenary under the Chairmanship of Australia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka respectively, considered the comparative review papers and the draft recommendations of Tokyo workshop. Thailand, Malaysia and Korea served as rapporteurs and presented the respective comparative review papers; representatives of the host SAI served as secretaries to the three committees. A working group consisting of representatives from Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and India (Convenor) drafted the "New Delhi Declaration of Guidelines for Promoting Effective Accounting and Adequate Internal Control System in Government". The draft declaration was deliberated upon and endorsed by the ASOSAI Assembly. The declaration emphasizes the following main points:
The New Delhi Declaration has been published as a special document of the 6th Assembly and 5th International Seminar of ASOSAI, and is available from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Mr. Yvan Gaudette of IDI presented to the Governing Board and to the Assembly the proposed long-term ASOSAI-IDI Programs 1996-2000 which emphasized the need for reorientation of IDI's role. Training activities being one of the significant items on the agenda of ASOSAI, the new Governing Board which met after the conclusion of the Assembly acted quickly and constituted a committee comprising of representatives of SAIs of India, Indonesia, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan to study and formulate proposals for future ASOSAI training activities and funding.
In the first plenary of the Assembly, the Chairmanship of ASOSAI was formally handed over by China to India for a three-year term from 1994-1997. The Assembly also elected Japan as the Secretary General of ASOSAI for a second three-year term. The new Governing Board members are India, Japan, Australia, China , Indonesia, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Sri Lanka was elected as special advisor to the Governing Board.
The next triennial Assembly and International Seminar of ASOSAI would be held in 1997.- The accomplishments of the ASOSAI so far on the training and research fronts, establishment of the Computer Expert Group, publication of the ASOSAI Journal, and the increase in its total membership to 24 as reported by the Secretary General were well received by acclamation at the Assembly. The spirit and hopes of ASOSAI for the next three years can perhaps be best summed up by quoting the words of Mr. J.B. Sumarlin, Chairman of the Supreme Audit Board of Indonesia at the closing ceremony.
"I believe based on their (ASOSAI Chairman and Secretary General's) experience and leadership and good cooperation among member countries of ASOSAI, they will carry out our programmes and fulfill the needs and expectations of our organization. I also believe, that for the coming years, we will have a more dynamic and active organization in the hands of the two gentlemen and their staff. Looking at the future development of our programmes and activities, please allow me to express my opinion that during the coming three years our organization will be facing a number of important and unavoidable challenges. One of the very basic and fundamental challenge or issue is how to make our ASOSAI become a strong and viable institution that can stand, among other things, on its own feet. I trust and believe that our new leaders will manage to solve the issues in a proper way"
The Assembly ended with a note of hope to strive for upholding the INTOSAI motto "Experientia Mutua Omnibus Prodest" (Mutual Experience Benefits All).
| "Since the last Assembly and International Seminar, some
member countries of ASOSAI have scored new achievements in their economic
development and reforms, and the status of Asia in world political and
economic affairs has gone up greatly. However, economic development always
goes along with the increase of government financial revenues and
expenditures, and expansion of capital movement, bringing to every country
many problems in funds and economic management. Therefore, it is necessary
to establish and strengthen the legal system, improve the economic
management and audit systems and enhance auditing supervision so as to help
build a clean government." Guo Zhenqian |