The establishment of Internal Audit Units (IAU) in all Government Ministries and Departments was consented by the Sultan in Council in the 51st Council of Ministers' Meeting. This is gearing towards improving corporate governance as in recent years some high profile frauds and questionable business practices have led to attention being cast on business management.
The Internal Audit function is considered to play an important role in the corporate governance process by providing the management with the necessary assurance it requires in respect of the integrity and effectiveness of the organization's accounting and financial reporting systems, internal controls systems, systems for monitoring risks and compliance with relevant laws.
Launching of IAU
The establishment of the IAU was officially launched by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in his capacity as Chairman of the Audit Committee on 20 September 2003.
On the auspicious occasion, a guide book on the establishment of IAU in all Government Ministries and Departments was distributed to every representative of the Ministries and Departments. The book amongst others, outlined the vision, mission, and objectives of the establishment of the IAU in all Government Ministries and Departments. It was hoped that the guide book could assist the Government Ministries/ Departments in the establishment and standardization of the IAU in their respective Ministries/ Departments.
In order to upgrade the knowledge of the trainees of IAU, they were exposed to the latest auditing tools and techniques during the training and strengthened with attachment to Brunei Supreme Audit Institution (Brunei SAI) and the Treasury Department.
The training at Brunei SAI was conducted in two stages:-
Lecture given to trainees
The classroom sessions were conducted by three senior auditors from Brunei SAI who have vast experience in internal controls. At the same time, Brunei SAI's newly recruited auditors were requested to be present during the training sessions for exposure. Besides the lectures, checklists on the three areas of audit namely revenue, expenditure and stores, and personnel emoluments were provided to the trainees for guidance and reference.
Hands-on-training
The trainees' response is very encouraging. Analysis on the overall evaluations on the training conducted have shown that 78.07% of the trainees are satisfied with the training programme prepared by Brunei SAI. There are indications of a better awareness of the importance of the establishment of the IAU and the need to have an effective system of internal controls in place.
Conclusion
In line with His Majesty the Sultan And Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam's command, all Government Ministries and Departments will no doubt be able to accomplish the following:-
In addition to generating national progress and prosperity, we should be responsible in upholding the meaning that all ministries, departments, organizations, companies and government agencies are fully responsible towards maintenance and use of government properties and the collection of government revenues that comply with the stipulated rules.
Leaders of each government agency and organization should be more accountable, responsible and not casually delegate tasks to subordinates so that the integrity of the government properties are more secure, not misused or breached for personal interest.
Besides internalizing `Value for Money' on the usage of government's budget, any form of waste should be overcome and avoided.
The same goes for government revenues, it should be collected and accounted for with honesty and sincerity so that it could be shared with future generations.
With the determination and commitment from all trainees involved and the continued support from `Government Ministries and Departments, the success of the establishment of the IAU will be forthcoming and thus an effective and excellent financial management will be achieved.
The time spent in this project may be costly to the Brunei SAI in terms of having to reschedule its work programs, postpone certain audits and as far as to the extent of cancelling a few planned projects due to the shortage of staffs, but we look forward to a new era of having the IAU in all the Government Ministries and Departments and moving towards improved corporate governance through better business management.
Since October 2004, office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India organized International Training Progrmmes on "Audit in IT Environment" (Two Programmes), "Audit of Social Sectors". The 5th and the last International Training Programme for the year 2004-05 on "Audit of Public Enterprises and Audit of Disinvestment" culminated on March 29, 2005. Sir John Bourn, Comptroller and Auditor General of UK who was on bilateral visit to India delivered a valedictory address on 29 March, 2005 and distributed the certificates to the participants of the programme on "Audit of Public Enterprises and Audit of Disinvestment". This programme was attended by 32 participants from 22 countries."
Following are the training programmes for the year 2005-2006:
| Sl.No | Name of Course | Period | |||||||||||||||
| I | Audit of Public Sector Enterprises | 8-8-2005 (Monday) to 7-9-2005 (Wednesday) | |||||||||||||||
| II | Auditing in Information Technology | 19-9-2005 (Monday) to 18-10-2005 (Tuesday) | |||||||||||||||
| III | Performance Audit | 28-11-2005 (Monday) to 27-12-2005 (Tuesday) | |||||||||||||||
| IV | Audit of Public Works and Projects | 9-1-2006 (Monday) to 8-2-2006 (Wednesday) | |||||||||||||||
| V | Auditing in EDP Environment | 27-2-2006 (Monday) Challenges for SAIs to 28-3-2006 (Tuesday) |
Details of the above programmes and training facility at International Centre for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA) may be seen in the website: www.cagindia.org
SAI-India has been organizing International Training programmes since 1979 and has contributed to professional capacity building in SAI all over the world. In this effort the Comptroller & Auditor General of India has been getting full cooperation of the Government of India which in addition to Administrative Support equivalent to more than US Dollar 500,000 every year.
ASOSAI activities in Kuwait SAB participation in ASOSAI activities:
SAB is Carrying out its training plan for the fiscal year 2004/2005. The following training programs were held to train (373) trainees:
Sixty Seven trainees were trained through forty five training programs held by local training companies and governmental ministries and authorities.
Sixteen trainees were trained through thirteen training programs held abroad.
Fourth: The Fifth Research competition of SAB for the year 2004 included (37) of SAB technical staff who presented (22) researches in the following topics:
* Topic 1: SAB auditor responsibility to find out errors and manipulation in electronic systems.
* Topic 2: Methods and channels to privatize companies, evaluate their assets and control them.
* Topic 3: Support the national manpower law No. (19) for the year 2000 and how to audit and review its methodology.
A Collective Research: SAB control role as long as the State of Kuwait follows the open door and open economy policies.
Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan held a five-week training program in Performance Auditing (58TH International -ITP) in Lahore from February 08 through March 12, 2005. The program was participated by nineteen (19) middle managers from the SAls of Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Oman, Turkey, Botswana, Kuwait and Afghanistan, and seven officers from Pakistan Audit Department. The program was to impart the concepts, tools, techniques and methods of auditing performance of development projects/programs and, writing performance audit reports, independently. The whole program was divided into four phases and each phase into the subject-wise lectures, exercises, and case-st classroom facilitators were selected very carefully, on the basis of their performance (experience at international level) in the subjects of their interest. They were requested to design their presentations in a way that they could have feedback about their own effectiveness in communicating their subjects while judging the participants' comprehension. Further, to enable the participants examine the projects/programs, actually at work whose performance/performance audit reports were discussed by the guest-speakers, they were daily taken to the sites. There detailed `briefings' and discussions were held. Participants also visited various cultural and historical programs and places. They enjoyed training and social programs and, hopefully, carried with them fond memories of things and events which form the common heritage and universal asset of man.
United Arab Emirates
SAI, UAE, has hosted a Seminar for designing training programmes and training techniques, which was approved by the SAIs in the GCC and according to I.D.I., terms between 25th December, 2004 -5th January, 2005. The first module of this programme was conducted in Kuwait between 4-22 September, 2004 and the third module will be conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), from 2nd to 13th April, 2005.
Twenty Auditors representing SAIs in GCC countries, participated in the Seminar, to qualify them as training specialists.
Also Leading experts from KSA were present in the Seminar, which helped in the design of the training programmes.
SAI, UAE, prepared some social activities and tours for the delegates, which helped in creating distinguished atmosphere that was reflected in the success of the seminar.