Koror, Palau: More than 60 people from countries across the Pacific and from as far away as Brazil, the USA and Norway attended the first in-person Congress the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) was able to hold since 2019.

Representatives of 22 PASAI member offices, supporting development partners and dignitaries from local and overseas ministries attended the four-day meeting hosted by the Office of the Public Auditor for the Republic of Palau from 28 February to 3 March 2023.

The Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand, John Ryan, in his capacity as the Secretary-General of PASAI, spoke of the significance of the attendance of the President of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts and newly appointed Chair of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Minister Bruno Dantas.

“We were honoured to hear directly from Minister Dantas on his first international trip as INTOSAI Chair,” said Mr Ryan.

“He acknowledged the importance of the ‘Blue Economy’, conveyed how environmental audits are a focus of INTOSAI and invited our member audit offices to contribute to the global ClimateScanner, a tool that will enable the assessment of each government’s action on climate change,” Mr Ryan added.

The theme of the four-day Congress was ‘Looking to the future,’ which enabled auditors general, public auditors, PASAI Secretariat staff and other attendees to reflect on PASAI’s progress nearly nine years into its 10 year Strategic Plan and start work developing its next strategy with help from a facilitator from Beasley Intercultural.

Congress attendees also benefited from presentations and video contributions by:

• Dr Margit Kraker, INTOSAI Secretary-General;

• Kaleb S Udui Jr, Minister of Finance, Government of Palau;

• Richelle Turner, the Australian Ambassador to Palau;

• Anhela Bochi, PFM Technical Specialist, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office;

• Archana Shirsat and Shofiql Islam, INTOSAI Development Initiative;

• Leonard Chan, Senior Advisor, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

• Patricia McKenzie, Practice Manager, World Bank

• Vivi Niemenmaa, Secretary-General, INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing;

• Jessica Du, Editor of the International Journal of Government Auditing and Government Accountability Office USA; and

• Jason Aubuchan and Drummond Kahn, Graduate School USA.

Through a series of panel discussions comprised mainly of heads of member audit offices, Congress attendees also reflected on issues related to institutional independence, securing quality in a SAI’s core mandate and enabling audit impact.

Preceding Congress on 27 February 2023, PASAI’s Governing Board held its 33rd meeting and agreed on recommendations for the approval of Congress. Among those adopted was the admission of the Australian Capital Territory Audit Office and the Office of the Auditor General for Western Australia as new PASAI members.

PASAI released a communiqué after the event and looks forward to the next Congress hosted by the Cook Islands Audit Office in 2024.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

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Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand
E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of this media release

Photos taken by Jessica Du, Editor of the International Journal of Government Auditing, during the 24th PASAI Congress: