1996 was noteworthy for a major expansion in the membership of Myanmar, ASOSAI, with the addition of five more SAIs - Mongolia, Myanmar, Russian Federation, Turkey and Vietnam. This will further strengthen ASOSAI's objective of promoting closer collaboration amongst Asian SAIs for mutual benefit. We welcome the new members of our fraternity, and look forward to their active support and contribution to ASOSAI in general, and our journal in particular.
The past year also witnessed a change in the incumbency of both the Chairmanship and Secretary-Generalship of ASOSAI, with Mr. C.G.Somiah and Mr. Shinji Yazaki handing over the reins of ASOSAI to Mr. V.K.Shunglu and Mr. Shuro Hikita. We thank Mr. Somiah and Mr. Yazaki for their valuable contributions to ASOSAI during their tenure.
ASOSAI issued two useful dissemination products during the year - a database covering the 14 issues of this journal from 1983 to 1996, and an overview of the activities of ASOSAI, with a focus on training and research activities conducted by ASOSAI and its members since 1979. We hope these products will serve as useful reference material, not only for SAI staff, but also for researchers, academicians and others interested in public audit.
The last few years have seen the spectacular growth of the Internet. This new "cyber world" has opened up a new range of opportunities in the area of Information Technology (IT). SAIs the world over are no exception to this trend. In this issue, we feature a list of Internet and electronic mail addresses of ASOSAI members, with a view to facilitating electronic communication between SAIs. This issue also carries two articles on the impact of IT on public audit - one exploring the relationship between e-mail and accountability, and the other detailing the integration of IT into the day-to-day working of the SAI. Other themes featured in this issue include the SAI's powers of surcharge, the methodology of technical audit, performance auditing of budgetary reform, and a perspective of audit of privatisation by different SAIs.
Readers would be happy to note that the ASOSAI Governing Board has decided to institute the ASOSAI Journal Award on a triennial basis, for promoting excellence in the contribution of articles for this journal. Articles published in the 1995 and 1996 issues, as well as the current issue, will be considered for the first such award, which will be presented at the 7th ASOSAI Assembly later this year. The response to the announcement of this award has been extremely encouraging, as is evident from the scope and variety of contributions for this issue. We hope that this award will provide further impetus to the growth of this journal in the years to come.