Upon the invitation of Mr. LIU Jiayi, the Auditor General of China National Audit Office, Auditors General of Supreme Audit Institutions（SAI） in Australia, Brazil, France, India, Russia and the United States of America presented at a joint media interview held in Beijing on 21 October, 2013，in which all of 7 auditors general shared their insights on a wide range of topics focusing on the role of audit in promoting good governance.
The interview was held on the eve of XXI International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions (INCOSAI), in which Mr. LIU Jiayi will succeed Mr. Nombembe Terence, Auditor General of South Africa as the chair of the INTOSAI. When asked about his new position, Mr. LIU Jiayi vowed he would earnestly perform his duty and contribute to the development of INTOSAI by formulating and promoting International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs), strengthening the cooperation between INTOSAI and other international organizations and enhance capacity building of INTOSAI.
Themed “ National Audit and National Governance” and “The role of Supreme Audit Institutions on Safeguarding Long-term Sustainability of Financial Policies”, the XXI INCOSAI will feature interactive discussions on issues such as audit function in promoting good governance, boosting sustainable growth, environment protection, etc. Mr. LIU Jiayi commented that SAIs should promote good governance by moving on the accountability and transparency in the field of public finance and management, establishing and improving the monitoring mechanism. Mr. Liu also introduced that a batch of newly amended standards and guidelines will be published in this congress, in order to disseminate the idea on national audit and national governance, promote the standards and best practice of SAIs.
When talking about SAIs’ role on maintaining sustainability of financial policies. Mr. Ian Mcphee, the Auditor General of SAI Australia stated that due to SAIs’ special position, they have wide powers in the authority to gain information, thus were able to report independently to the parliament on the sustainability of government finances.
Mr. Augusto Nardes, the Auditor General of SAI Brazil said that INTOSAI had served as an important platform for its members to exchange idea and experiences on various issues, so that audit work could be improved, especially the in the field of national governance.
In answering the question of federal government debt, Mr. Gene Dodaro said GAO had been auditing and reporting on the financial condition annually. Long range simulations had also been done since 1992, pointing out the need for government to get on a more financially sustainable path, greater accounting standards on dealing with specific issues were also promoted. He also introduced the role of GAO in financial reform, etc.
Mr. Didier Migaud also shared the experiences on the role of SAI France in facing financial crisis. He said SAI France measures were taken to ensure public property were properly used, and certain regulations were formulated in relation to this issue.
Ms. Tatyana Golikova and Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma, Auditors General of SAI Russia and India, respectively, shared their experiences on their functions and achievements in fighting against corruption.