The 9th General Assembly of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (OISC/CPLP) was held in the capital of Angola, Luanda, from 14 to 15 September 2016. The Commissioner of Audit, Ho Veng On, on behalf of the Commission of Audit of Macao SAR Government, attended the Assembly as an observer, and discussed the topics related to the theme of the Assembly: “The function of external control in the public financial management during the crisis” with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions from the countries of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, and East Timor.
Ho Veng On pointed out in his speech that under the condition of crisis, external control in the public financial management is an impetus. Through monitoring the sustainability, transparency and efficiency of public financial policies, it facilitates the development of the economy, society and environment of current and future generations. The performance of independent external government auditing should particularly be strengthened and improved in times of crisis, for promoting good governance in financial area.
He added that during the global economic and financial crisis, the challenges faced in external auditing of public finance did not only come from General Account Audit, Ordinary Account Audit, Compliance Audit and Performance Audit of institution and public resources management, but also come from Sustainable Audit of public finance. The topic of safeguarding the sustainability of public finance was already discussed by the Supreme Audit Institutions in the XXI INTOSAI Congress held in Beijing in 2013 and the outcome of discussion was contained in the “Beijing Declaration”, which is an important document to summarize the external control in public financial management and provide a thorough understanding of it.
He underlined that the concept of sustainable public finance is crucial to good national governance and should be interpreted as current and future financial commitments made by countries without passing on excessive debt to future generations.
After generalizing keynote speeches and the outcomes of group discussion, delegations unanimously adopted the “Luanda Declaration”, which served as the basic policy and stance of OISC/CPLP during the participation in the next INTOSAI Congress held in Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates at the end of this year.
During the Assembly, Ho Veng On met with the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Angola, Joana Lina Cândido, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Manuel Aragão and the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Rui Ferreira, and he also attended the opening ceremony of the postgraduate program in Public Accounting, which was especially held for auditors of Angola Audit Court and subsidized by the European Union.
The General Assembly of OISC/CPLP is held biennially, with the aim of enhancing the connection between members of OISC/CPLP and encouraging the exchange of opinions and further communication on specific topics. The Commission of Audit has been invited to participate in the General Assembly of OISC/CPLP regularly since its establishment, and through the discussion of audit work, it can understand the latest development of international counterparts in audit management.
