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ASOSAI News

23rd Governing Board Meeting

The 23rd Meeting of the Governing Board of ASOSAI was hosted by SAI-Indonesia at Bali on July 10, 1996. At this meeting, the Board approved the applications for ASOSAI membership of the SAIs of Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Mongolia. A resolution proposing that SAI-Thailand be the host of the 8th ASOSAI Assembly in 2000 AD was also approved by the Governing Board; this proposal would be submitted to the 7th ASOSAI Assembly in October 1997 for approval. The Board also approved a proposal for an increase in the annual contribution rates for ASOSAI members to the INTOSAI contribution level from 1998, while retaining a minimum rate of US$ 500; this resolution would also be submitted for the 7th ASOSAI Assembly's approval.

The Secretary General reported on the approval by the Asian Development Bank of the Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) providing US$ 1 million for Phase-I of the ASOSAI-IDI Long Term Training Programme. He also presented a report on the ASOSAI Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 1995. Dr. Sumarlin, Chairman of the Supreme Audit Board of Indonesia, reported on preparations for the 7th Assembly and 6th International Seminar of ASOSAI scheduled for 1997. The Board approved the Secretary General's proposal that the ASOSAI Workshop be held in Tokyo in July 1997 to prepare for the 6th International Seminar.

Delegates at the 23rd Meeting of the ASOSAI Governing Board

Change in incumbency of Governing Board

During 1996, there was a change in both the Chairmanship and Secretary-Generalship of ASOSAI. Mr. V.K.Shunglu took over as Chairman of ASOSAI, consequent on his succeeding Mr. C.G. Somiah as Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Mr. Shuro Hikita became the Secretary General of ASOSAI, when he succeeded Mr. Shinji Yazaki as the President of the Board of Audit of Japan. The ASOSAI Governing Board presented plaques of honour to Mr. Somiah and Mr. Yazaki, in appreciation of their contributions to the advancement of ASOSAI during their tenure as Chairman and Secretary General respectively.

New members of ASOSAI

Consequent on the approval of their applications for membership by the ASOSAI Governing Board and completion of other administrative formalities, the Turkish Court of Accounts, the Auditor General of Myanmar and the Chamber of Accounts of the Russian Federation became members of ASOSAI with effect from August 12, 1996, September 30, 1996 and November 28, 1996 respectively, while the State Audit Board of Mongolia and the State Auditor General of Vietnam joined ASOSAI on January 7, 1997, thus raising its membership to 30. The bio-data of the Heads of SAIs of Turkey, Russian Federation and Vietnam are featured elsewhere in this issue.

4th ASOSAI Research Project

At its 19th meeting at Sydney in May 1993, the ASOSAI Governing Board had decided to launch the Fourth ASOSAI Research Project on the theme "Government Revenues - Accountability and Audit", which would be undertaken by a team comprising representatives of the SAIs of Australia, India and Malaysia.

The Research Team for this project, consisting of Mr. Tony Minchin, Executive Director in the Australian National Audit Office, Mr. P.K. Lahiri, Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Mr. Ab. Rahman bin Mohammed, Deputy Auditor General of Malaysia, met at New Delhi on April 18 and 19, 1996, to consider the scope and outline of the research project. The guidelines for preparing the country papers for the project were finalised at this meeting, and subsequently circulated to all ASOSAI members. After receiving the country papers, the research team will conduct a comparative study before finalising the research output, which is scheduled for completion by end 1997.

ASOSAI Overview

At the Bali Meeting, the Governing Board approved a proposal by the Committee for ASOSAI Training Activities to bring out a publication entitled "ASOSAI - An Overview", which highlights ASOSAI's contribution to public financial accountability in the Asian region. This publication, which has since been printed and circulated to ASOSAI members, spells out the objectives and functions of ASOSAI, the historical perspective in which it was established, the various organs of ASOSAI, and the important milestones in ASOSAI's history. The publication lays special focus on the training and research activities undertaken by ASOSAI and its member SAIs, and gives details of the training programmes, workshops and seminars organised by member SAIs since 1979.

ASOSAI Journal Database

A Database of the Asian Journal of Government Audit, covering the 14 issues from 1983 to 1996, has been prepared and circulated to ASOSAI members. This database reflects the wealth of professional material and other ASOSAI highlights which have appeared in the Journal. It has been organised in three parts. Part 'A' is a bibliography of articles and case studies, appropriately cross-referenced to the relevant issue of the journal. Part 'B' catalogues important decisions of the ASOSAI Governing Board and trends and developments within ASOSAI. Part 'C is a chronological listing of important ASOSAI events. The database also includes a list of profiles of SAIs featured in the various issues of the journal. The database will be updated once in every three years, with the next edition targeted for the 8th ASOSAI Assembly in 2000 AD.

ASOSAI Journal Award

With a view to enhancing the quality and status of the Asian Journal of Government Audit, encouraging greater contributions from SAIs and promoting further excellence in the writing of articles for the journal, the ASOSAI Governing Board took a decision at the Bali Meeting to institute an ASOSAI Journal Award to be presented on a triennial basis at each Assembly for the best article in the journal. The first ASOSAI Journal Award, covering articles published in the 1995, 1 996 and 1 997 issues of the journal, will be presented at the 7th ASOSAI Assembly scheduled to be held at Jakarta in October 1997. The ranking of articles for this award would be made by a panel of judges consisting of members of the Board of Editors of the Journal (Heads of SAIs of India, Philippines and Sri Lanka) and the Editor of the Journal. The author of the award-winning article will be presented a golden medallion and a citation.

INTERNET / E-Mail Addresses of ASOSAI Members

With a view to furthering the process of electronic communication between Supreme Audit Institutions in the Asian region, we have compiled a list of e- mail and world wide website addresses of ASOSAI members, based on the information available with us. SAIs, whose addresses do not figure in this list, are requested to intimate the same to the Editor, so that these could be incorporated in future issues of the Journal. Any changes in these addresses may also kindly be intimated to the Editor.