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8th ASOSAI Assembly

The 8th ASOSAI Assembly and Symposium was hosted by State Audit Commission of Thailand from October 9-14th, 2000. Two different venues, one for the Assembly and the other for the Closing ceremony were selected by the host. Chiang Mai a culturally rich city, with fine weather and located on the upper northern part of Thailand was selected as the venue for the 8th Assembly. It was an old capital of Thailand and presently a well conserved world heritage, which is fast emerging as a favourite tourist location.

On the other hand Sukhothai which was half way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai was selected for the closing ceremony.

The Assembly was attended by 135 delegates from 33 countries including observers from the Asian Development Bank, INTOSAI Development Initiative, INTOSAI Secretariat and International Journal of Government Audit. The presence of 22 accompanying persons, added colour to the whole programme.

Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony was on October 11, 2000 in Westing Chiang Mai.

Dr. Panya Tantiyavarong, Chairman of the State Audit Commission of Thailand in his welcome address reiterated the goals of ASOSAI and applauded it’s achievements. His address was followed by the inaugural address of INTOSAI Secretary General Dr. Franz Fiedler which was delivered by Mr. Reinhard Rath since Dr. Fiedler could not make it to Chiang Mai. The message of Dr. Fiedler mainly appreciated the topic of the Symposium and Lima Declaration. Dr. Satrio Budihardjo Joedono, Chairman of ASOSAI was next to deliver his address which put forth the achievement of ASOSAI during its journey of 19 years. Finally the congratulatory address was delivered by Mr. Sanit Vorapanya (President of the Senate of Thailand).

Programme and Symposium

The 8th ASOSAI Assembly was the first such assembly where a format of a one day Symposium on a chosen theme was adopted. The theme was “The Role of SAIs in Promoting Good Governance in the Public Sector”. The main outlines of the programme was:

  1. Mr. Akira Kaneko Secretary General ASOSAI introduced the Symposium Theme, Speaker panelists, and Moderators. It was followed by

  2. Key note address by Dr. Bhokin Bhalakula, Ex-Minister, to give the audience the topic issue outlook
  3. Introductory report read by Mr. Pat Barret, Auditor General of Australia.
  4. Panel discussion:- Four Panelist comprising of Mr. Pat Barret - Auditor General of Australia, Mr. Shoji Nishimoto - Director, Strategy and Policy Department, of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Datuk Dr. Hadenan B. Abdul Jalil - Auditor General of Malaysia and Mr. Manzur Rahman - Comptroller & Auditor General of Bangladesh discussed the topic from their respective viewpoints.

The Panel discussion also included Mr. Songkram Grachangnetara - Advisor Thailand Development Research Institute foundation.

  1. Finally it was Plenary discussion where the panelists answered the questions from the floor and then the delegates from ASOSAI member countries discussed the main issues identified during the panel discussion with the panelists.

Social Programme

The Social Programmes had two components, one for accompanying persons and the other the General Programme for all the participants. The accompanying persons programme was beautifully knitted to keep them engrossed and entertained. It included Excursion tours, visits to Historical and Conservation centers, and Handicraft factories.

Accompanying persons enjoying their programme

The accompanying persons thoroughly enjoyed their entire stay of Five days. The other Social programme was meticulously planned with a visit to Lampong Elephant Training Centre, Sukhothai Historical Park and Sukhothai Light and Sound show.

New Constitution of the Governing Board.

  1. Thailand - Chairman
  2. India - Secretary General
  3. Philippines
  4. Bangladesh
  5. China
  6. Japan
  7. Korea
  8. Kuwait
  9. Pakistan

Audit Committee Members

  1. Nepal

  2. Turkey

Awards

During the 23rd ASOSAI Governing Board meeting at Bali-Indonesia in July 1996 it was decided to institute an award to the best article appearing in the ASOSAI Journal in order to promote excellence. The best article is selected from the last three ASOSAI Journals before the ASOSAI Assembly. The first ASOSAI Journal award covered the articles published in 1995, 1996 and 1997 issues of the Journal. The panel of judges for the award are SAIs of Sri Lanka, Philippines and India the Editor of the Journal. The articles are evaluated on a set module of evaluation. The first such award was presented to Mr. Michel Owens of the Australian National Audit Office for his article entitled “Audit Technology, a journey towards the year 2000 - A new experience”. This was published in 1997 edition of the Asian Journal.

The 2nd ASOSAI Journal award was given to Mr. Pritom Phookun of SAI - India for his article “Good Governance” which was published in the 2000 issue of the Journal. This article was considered best among the articles which appeared in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

 As reforms in the business of government are being put in place, the concepts of good governance will need to change with the political and business environments, particularly with respect to privatization and the participation of the private sector in the delivery of certain public services.

Songkam Grachangnetara
Panel Discussion Moderator

 

 With many experts and scholars attending this symposium, we hope to bring out useful percepetion to promote Good National Governance throughout the region.

Dr. Panya Tantiyavarong
in his Welcome Address
during 8th Assembly