At the recently concluded XV INCOSAI at Cairo, Mr. C.G. Somiah, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Chairman of ASOSAI, reported on the activities of ASOSAI in the past three years since the XIV INCOSAI held at Washington in 1992. We reproduce this report on ASOSAI activities, which was presented at the Closing General Plenary Session of the XV INCOSAI on October 2, 1995.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present this report on the activities of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions in the past three years since the previous Congress.
2. At the outset, allow me on behalf of the members of ASOSAI as well as on my own to thank the outgoing INTOSAI Chairman, Mr. Bowsher for his contribution to the growth of INTOSAI, as also to Dr. Fiedler and his dedicated staff in the INTOSAI General Secretariat, who have been a constant source of support to all of us. Let me also compliment Mr. Fakhry Abbas for the excellent arrangements made for this Congress, we are sure that the INTOSAI movement will progress further under his able stewardship over the next three years.
3. ASOSAI held its 6th Assembly and 5th International Seminar in November 1994 at New Delhi, fifteen years after its inception in the same city. 73 delegates from 20 member SAIs of ASOSAI and 1 7 observers from other countries in the Asian region and international and professional organisations, participated in the Assembly and Seminar. I was honoured to be elected as the Chairman of ASOSAI at this Assembly and Japan was re-elected as the Secretary General. The ASOSAI Assembly also elected Australia, China, Indonesia, Korea and Saudi Arabia as members of the Governing Board, with Sri Lanka being elected as a Special Advisor to the Board. Malaysia and Thailand were re- elected as members of the Audit Committee of ASOSAI.
4. The theme of the Assembly and Seminar was the Role of SAI in Promoting Effective Accounting and Adequate Internal Control System in Government. Delegates had occasion to discuss this theme in depth under three distinct sub-themes, each of which was dealt with in a separate committee session. The final product of these deliberations was the adoption by the Assembly of the New Delhi Declaration of Guidelines for Promoting Effective Accounting and Adequate Internal Control System in Government.
5. It is with great pleasure that I would like to inform the Congress that we have added one more member, namely New Zealand, to our organisation. This decision was approved at the 19th meeting of the Governing Board of ASOSAI held at Sydney, Australia in May 1993. At this meeting, the Governing Board also took a major step towards development of the Information Technology infrastructure in the ASOSAI region, by establishing an ASQSAI Computer Expert Croup, for providing advice on Computer Assisted Audit Techniques and practices to members of ASOSAI.
6. Upgradation of skills and exchange of information on audit techniques and experiences through the medium of training and workshops continue to remain an important part of ASOSAI's dissemination activities. Since the last Congress, 15 training programmes were organised in the ASOSAI region on a variety of topics which included areas like 'Computer Auditing', 'Audit of Receipts', 'Auditing Foreign Aid Effectiveness and Accountability' to name a few. Besides these training programmes, workshops and seminars were also hosted by member SAIs, some of them being organised with IDI co-operation.
7. In pursuance of IDI's suggestion and general endorsement in the last INCOSAI, that Regional Groups should play a more active role in organising and funding those training activities which have till now being organised by IDI, our regional group interacted with the IDI representative on this issue at the 6th Assembly at New Delhi in November 1994. An ASOSAI delegation along with the IDI representative met the President of the ADB earlier this year and held detailed discussions regarding the regional group training strategy for the period 1996-2000. We have now finalised our agreement with the ADB and based on their assistance and also on IDI's continued collaboration on the technical side have chalked out a programme for the period 1996-2000. This programme would go a long way in the upgradation of the training potential and auditing skills among the SAIs of this region.
8. ASOSAI has also been actively conducting research in various fields of accounting, auditing and financial management. The second such project taken up by our group on Financial Accountability and Management in Government, has been published and circulated. The third project on Audit of Public Works and Projects is in its final stages of completion.
9. ASOSAI has also continued to bring out annually the Asian Journal of Government Audit. This Journal has become an important vehicle, within the Asian region, for communication of ideas, exchange of experiences and information about recent developments in auditing and related areas. Since the last INCOSAI at Washington, three issues of the Journal were published and circulated among members of ASOSAI and INTOSAI.
10. Finally, I would like to once again thank Mr. Fakhry Abbas, and his dedicated team from the Central Auditing Organisation for the welcome and hospitality accorded to us in this historic and ancient city.
Thank you.