From 3 to 12 December 2013, the Commissioner of Audit, Ho Veng On, successively participated in the XXVII Congress of the Association of Members of Courts of Accounts of Brazil (ATRICON), held in Vitoria, Brazil, and, as member of the Chinese delegation, in the XXIII General Assembly of the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS), in Santiago, capital of Chile.

The XXVII Congress of ATRICON, held from 3 to 6 December, attracted 34 chief judges and magistrates representing courts of accounts from 26 states and 1 federal district as well as more than 500 audit professionals, who debated issues relating to “institutional image and communication”, “education”, “engineering and construction works”, “environment” and “social control and access to information”. Through paper presentations and experience sharing, the participants examined the contributions the external audit institutions, apart from their traditional oversight of public resources applications, could offer to enhance the competence and policy alignment of the management, to promote the practicability of public policies and legislation which directly impact on the national development and to promote public monitoring. On the sidelines of the sessions, Ho Veng On met with the chief judges of courts of accounts of Rio de Janeiro and S.Paulo.

Following ATRICON’s congress, the Commissioner of Audit flew to Santiago, Chile, where, from 9 to 12 December, took part in the XXIII General Assembly of OLACEFS as member of the delegation of China National Audit Office (CNAO). The delegation of CNAO was led by the director of its Department of International Cooperation, Mr Zhou Weipei, who addressed the general assembly on behalf of Liu Jiayi, auditor general of China and chairman of the International Organization of the Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). OLACEFS, comprising 22 member institutions, is one of the regional organizations of INTOSAI.

Ho Veng On’s participation was at the invitation of Augusto Nardes, president of the Court of Accounts of the Union of Brazil and also chairman of OLACEFS, extended during a meeting, in Macau, between the Commission of Audit and the supreme audit institutions of the Portuguese speaking countries, following their participation in the general assembly of INTOSAI, held in Beijing, in October. The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, presided over the opening ceremony of the general assembly, during which Ho Veng On exchanged ideas and viewpoints on application of audit techniques and shared experience on good governance with other participants.