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INCOSAI-2004

The Congress of INTOSAI is the supreme organ of the Organisation and is composed of all of its members. The present membership of the Congress is 185. Once every three years it holds its regular meeting, which is chaired and convened by the head of the Supreme Audit Institution of the country in which the Congress is held. The XVIIIth meeting of the Congress is scheduled to be held at Budapest, Hungary from 10-16 October, 2004 which is likely to be attended by 500 delegates from 145 countries including 129 SAI heads.

The major objective of the Congress is to review the progress of the work of its various organs which include Standing Committees, Regional Groups, IDI, Journal and several Task Forces including the one for INTOSAI Strategic Plan. Annual Reports, financials statements and the budget will also engage the attention of the Congress.

Other than these, the discussions at the Congress will be on two themes of topical interest.

Theme I: The possibilities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation (e.g. joint audits, training programmes, knowledge sharing) among Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) -Theme Chair (United Kingdom)

The background paper lists three distinct drivers for multilateral and bilateral co-operation among SAIs:

  1. To promote accountability and governance - to meet legal or other mandatory requirements relating to international treaties and projects;
  2. To promote good practices- to develop and promote common knowledge to improve the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of SAIs; and
  3. To support institutional capacity building - to develop the capacity of all SAIs to meet legal and professional standards and the challenges and responsibilities sought from Supreme Audit Institutions in the 21st century.

The INCOSAI is likely to discuss and consider recommendations on the role INTOSAI may play with regard to above drivers.

Theme II: Coordination of audit efforts between national, regional, local and self-governing bodies-Theme Chair (Canada)

In most countries, different organisations with a degree of autonomy either audit or provide oversight of public expenditures, public activities, or public entities. In addition to SAI itself, these can include other public sector auditors, private sector auditors and oversight bodies.

INCOSAI will debate on the kind of cooperation, potential benefits, potential difficulties, critical factors for success and the ways in which INTOSAI can promote such coordination.

New Secretary General of INTOSAI

Dr. Josef Moser
President of the Austrian Court of Audit Secretary General of INTOSAI

Personal data: Date of birth: 6 October 1955, in Lienz, Austria Family status: married, father of a daughter.

Training: Compulsory school, secondary higher school, A-levels in 1975 Law studies at Vienna University, Austria, graduation in 1981 with a doctoral degree.

Professional experience: Government administration: different management functions in the federal financial administration (e.g. staffing and general policy matters) and in the provincial administration (e.g. managing function in the cabinet of the province governor of Carinthia.

Parliament: executive director of a political group in parliament; responsible for coordinating activities between the government and parliament; promotion of intra-parliamentary cooperation between the representatives of the different political parties; direct cooperation with the federal ministries.

Private sector: different managing functions in the private sector, e.g.:

Member of the Board of Directors of Eisenbahn-Hochleistungsstrecken AG (railroad construction company)

1 July 2004: President of the Austrian Court of Audit and Secretary General of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)