The Commissioner of Audit of Macau SAR, Ho Veng On, led a delegation to visit the China National Audit Office (CNAO) and Nanjing Audit University (NAU) last week, with the aim of deepening cooperation with both institutions in audit area.
The delegation of the Commission of Audit of Macau SAR (CA) met with the Auditor General of China, Mr. Liu Jiayi, on 26 May. At the meeting, Ho Veng On expressed gratitude for the support the Auditor General has been rendering to CA and pointed out that, thanks to the cooperation protocol signed in October 2011 with the Center for Information Technology (CTI), for developing the “AO On-site Audit System”, and its consequent support, CA could progressively implement computer assisted audit and optimizing the audit working procedures. In fact, CA is already applying information technology based techniques and procedures to conduct financial auditing. Ho said that CA would continue to monitor the results of the application and would also review the whole process of development, so to gauge the feasibility of introducing more functions to the system, in order to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the financial audit works. Ho Veng On also referred that the active support rendered by the CNAO to CA’s professional training has been crucial to improving the technical skills of its audit team. Finally, the Commissioner of Audit also thanked CNAO for its support in exchange activities with foreign countries, notably through the inclusion of CA personnel in the national delegations at international events. In line of this support, Ho Veng On referred that following the Congress of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), held in Beijing in October 2013, leaders of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) of the Portuguese-speaking gathered in Macau for an exchange meeting, which greatly contributed to further strengthening the relations between Macau and the Portuguese-speaking countries. Following that meeting, a series of training activities has been scheduled to be held in Macau this year, which contributed to consolidating the role of CA as an exchange platform among Portuguese-speaking countries in the audit area.
Liu Jiayi welcomed the delegation of CA and affirmed the contribution of CA to Macau’s social stability and economic development. Liu Jiayi reminded that the Beijing Declaration, adopted at the Congress of INTOSAI last year, clearly expresses the role the supreme audit institutions (SAIs) should play in promoting good governance. Liu believes that CA should also follow this guidance, so when auditing the General Accounts efforts should be given to see beyond the figures and data, trying to recognize the underlying objectives and trends, in order to provide timely, objective and reliable information, to identify risks, to defend the nation’s economy and to ensure the normal functioning of the society, in other words, the mission of the audit work must be understood from the perspective of a stakeholder in the national governance. Liu Jiayi also pointed out the strong support provided by CNAO in recent years in both personnel training and computer aided audit have enabled CA to greatly improve its capacity building and technical competence, so he wished that the exchange and cooperation between the two sides could continue to be strengthened. Ho Veng On also exchanged views with the chief auditor of CNAO, Chen Chenzhao, and the Director of the Office for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs, Zhou Weipei, on future cooperation.
During the stay in Beijing, Ho Veng On and his delegation also met the Deputy Director of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr. Xu Ze. Ho Veng On briefed him on the development of CA in recent years and on the cooperation in personnel training with CNAO and with SAIs of the Portuguese--speaking countries. Ho Veng On also took the opportunity to thank the Office for its support to the works of CA.
On 28 May, Ho Veng On and his delegation visited Nanjing Audit University (NAU), which is the only institution of higher education specialized audit in the country, where they met the President, Yan Weilong, and the Vice-president, Pei Yu, and discussed possible ways by which teachers of the university could conduct training at CA in order to further lift the professional level of its staff. During the visit, Ho Veng On agreed to be the first guest of the university’s new interview program “Examine and Ask”. He exchanged ideas with the students on the relation between audit and national governance, on how the audit activity stimulates good governance and also on the implementation of concurrent audit in Macau, its focus points and its achievements. Ho Veng On also spoke on the features of CA and of a court of auditors, by which he gave a brief introduction to the audit regime in Macau and the activities of CA, and also shared its experience and point of views on managing an audit institution. Lastly, he encouraged the students to broaden their horizons to face the future. The delegation ended the visit on 29 May.
