At the invitation of Macao Development Strategy Research Center, the Commissioner of Audit, Ho Veng On, attended the “Forum on Government Audit Work”, in which he actively exchanged opinions with participants on the issues of public concern, such as pre-audit, the follow-up audit on major project, auditee, and the sharing of government resources.

During the forum, Ho Veng On was asked“what are the criteria for selecting the auditee?”. In reply to this, he pointed out that the auditee is selected according to the problem, not the people; before the audit begins, the auditor would determine the auditee by making reference to the financial audit and the public concern. Related to the supervision on subsidy from public funds, Ho Veng On said that public departments have responsibility to supervise the use of public funds that is subsidised by the government, while the Commission of Audit (CA) is to audit whether public departments fulfill their responsibilities, to ensure that the public resources can be used under the principle of legality and reasonableness. In regard to the pre-audit, it is unsuitable for CA to conduct pre-audit, since public departments may not faithfully carry out their projects according to the plans. Besides, it will impede the progress of public administration if each project is audited before its implementation; moreover, public departments should have power and responsibility to monitor the implementation of projects.

Approximately 50 people participated in this forum, including the directors and members of Macao Development Strategy Research Center, and other guests, such as the Commissioner of Audit, Ho Veng On, and the Director of Audit Bureau, Neoh Hwai Beng. The forum started with a brief introduction by CA staff, covering topics on the establishment of CA, its responsibility, auditee, the types of audit report, the effectiveness of audit work, etc. After that, participants raised questions that they were interested in and Ho Veng On answered each question one by one in detail. The discussion lasted for about two and a half hour. Participants hoped that CA can organize more similar activities in the future, so that the community can further understand the work of CA and jointly promote the prudent use of public resources.