For the ASOSAI community this is indeed a very important year as we shall all be meeting for our triennial Assembly at the most attractive venue -Chiang Mai -where our hosts, the SAI-Thailand have made elaborate arrangements not only to provide meaningful discussions on our professional matters but also to facilitate social interactions that form the real basis of smooth and efficient functioning of any organisation.
A number of professional development programmes in the shape of seminars and training programmes have been held and are scheduled in the coming months. Among these are the ASOSAI Workshop on Value for Money Audit Process held at Bangkok earlier this year, ASOSAI Seminar on Social Security Audit that was held in Beijing earlier this month and the forthcoming Instructor Team Meeting on Audit of Revenue and Receipts to be hosted by SAI-Malaysia next month.
Close cooperation between SAIs has received a great boost by the availability of internet and we are printing in this volume all available internet address of ASOSAI members. A calendar of events for the year 2000 is also being included in this volume. This volume also includes contributions by colleagues from SAI-Nepal, SAI-Pakistan, SAI-China and SAI-lndia.
Two important developments on the professional front are the formation of a Core Group on Environment Auditing, formed at the initiative of SAI-Korea, and the V ASOSAI Research Project on Performance Auditing.
SAI-Korea hosted the meeting of the INTOSAI Governing Board at Seoul earlier this month. It is indeed a matter of great pride to all of us in the ASOSAI community that XVII INCOSAI will be held in Asia this time.
Another important development within INTOSAI is the transfer of the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) from Canada to Norway. Many of us have already interacted with our colleagues from Norway and we look forward to a rich and fruitful relationship with them through the LTRTP and also hope that our Canadian colleagues will continue to make available to us both their superb technical skills and their warm personal friendship that have been such a memorable feature of many meetings.
On behalf of the ASOSAI community, it is my privilege to extend a warm welcome to SAIs of Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Oman and Iran who have joined our organization since this Journal was last published.
For the ASOSAI community this Journal will always be a forum for meaningful interactions and interchange of ideas.