At the invitation of the Portuguese Court of Auditors, the Commissioner of Audit of Macao Special Administrative Region, Ho Veng On, led a delegation to Lisbon last week to attend the 1st Joint Seminar of the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) and the African Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI), and the celebration for the 170th anniversary of Portuguese Court of Auditors and the 630th anniversary of Casa dos Contos, which is the former of the Court.

The Seminar was held from 21 to 22 November. At the opening ceremony, the President of the Portuguese Court of Auditors, Vitor Caldeira, welcomed the audit officials from around 50 countries and emphasized that the European and African counterparts can share valuable experience on auditing the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs), which is of great significance for pushing the practical work ahead. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, pointed out in the congratulatory video that the public departments and the Supreme Audit Institutions play a key role in implementing the 17 goals of the sustainable development agenda in order to build a prosperous, peaceful and inclusive society together.

During the Seminar, the Presidency of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Dmitrii Zaitsev, the Presidency of AFROSAI, Mamadou Faye, and the President of EUROSAI, Seyit Bas, respectively introduced their progress and perspectives on the SDGs, and then the representatives from the General Secretariat of INTOSAI and the INTOSAI Development Initiative gave an overview of the situation; the representatives of Portugal and the European Union discussed the theme from the view of stakeholders, and the representatives of the Court of Auditors of the Sate of Amazonas (Brazil) shared the experience on environmental audit. In the regional experience sharing session, the representatives of EUROSAI, AFROSAI and Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) made remarks respectively; in the workshops that continued in the afternoon, the groups shared the audit cases of Germany, Hungary, Kenya, Spain, Belgium, Burkina-Faso, Senegal, Finland, Portugal, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey; also exchanged opinions on the use of traditional audit methods to audit the implementation of SDGs (public policies) and the introduction of challenges faced by civil society organizations when auditing the SDGs.

In accordance with the purpose of the “Moscow Declaration” endorsed by the XXIII INTOSAI Congress in September this year, it is committed that SAIs should monitor the implementation of SDGs on the national level through public auditing. Participants in the 1st EUROSAI-AFROSAI Joint Seminar recognized that this would make the audit mission of member countries more prominent, especially in expanding the authorization and enhancing their own competence.

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which was released in 2015 mainly focuses on three aspects: environment, economy and society, and the topics it concerns include: health and well-being, education quality, energy, economic growth, gender equality, sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production, climate change, marine ecology, etc., totaling 17 goals and 169 targets that cover a wide range of areas. As early as December 2016, INTOSAI adopted the Abu Dhabi Declaration to confirm that the relevant audit procedures would be established in order to promote SAIs to make a meaningful contribution to the SDGs.

After the closing of the Seminar, the participants, including the Vice-President of the Portuguese Parliament, the representatives of the Portuguese judicial organization and the Government officers attended the ceremony to celebrate the 170th anniversary of Portuguese Court of Auditors and the 630th anniversary of Casa dos Contos, and the Portuguese President delivered the congratulatory video.

The Commission of Audit (CA) signed the cooperation agreement with the Portuguese Court of Audits as early as 2001, and has had practical exchanges since 2013. Over the past few years, CA invited the experts from the Portuguese Court of Auditors to teach courses on the professional fields of law, public works, public finance, computer-assisted audit, etc. in multiple occasions. Through the cooperation of personnel training and exchanges, it would help CA staff acquire the latest technology and knowledge.

During the seminar, the Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (OISC/CPLP) also held a preparatory work meeting for the 10th General Assembly in 2020.