59th ASOSAI Governing Board Meeting
On September 21–22, 2023, the 59th ASOSAI Governing Board Meeting was held in Busan (Republic of Korea), under the leadership of SAI Thailand.
The event was attended by Heads, Senior officials and program officers of SAIs of Azerbaijan, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Japan, as well as the Development Initiative INTOSAI (IDI).
During the event, participants were presented with reports on the activities of the ASOSAI Governing Board and the General Secretariat, reports on the implementation of the ASOSAI Strategic Plan for 2022–2027 and the Bangkok Declaration 2021, reports on the activities of the ASOSAI Working Groups and on the cooperation with other INTOSAI regional organizations. Despite budget optimization, in 2022–2023 ASOSAI managed to successfully complete the assigned tasks and carry out all planned activities.
The delegation of the Accounts Chamber presented reports on the results of the activities of two INTOSAI Working Groups chaired by SAI Russia - On Public Procurement Audit and SDGs and Key Sustainable Development Indicators. The preparation of a collection of best practices for public procurement auditing, Guidance on Audit of the Reliability of Macroeconomic Forecasts and Guidance on ESG Audit are identified as promising projects.
As a result of the elections to key ASOSAI positions, GB Members supported the candidacy of SAI Saudi Arabia to host the 17th ASOSAI Assembly in 2027, as well as the candidacy of SAI China for the post of Secretary General. If approved by the 16th ASOSAI Assembly in 2024, SAI Saudi Arabia will take the post of Chair for the period 2027–2030, the SAI China will be reassigned to the position of Secretary General for the period 2024–2027. SAI Indonesia was approved as ASOSAI's candidate to host the XXVI INCOSAI in 2028.
In the final part of the event the Acting Chair of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Galina Izotova put forward an initiative to establish the ASOSAI Working Group on Regional and Municipal Audit. The meeting participants supported the SAI Russia project. It is planned to create a Special Committee to study the feasibility of initiating a new ASOSAI Working Group and to hold its first kick-off meeting in November–December 2023.