Strengthening the independence and transparency of audit institutions in the Pacific Islands, and promoting stronger public financial reporting, are among a new set of objectives for auditing heads in the region

The heads of the supreme audit institutions (SAIs) from around the Pacific region endorsed a new set of objectives for advancing public auditing at the 16^th Annual Congress of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) in Tamuning, Guam, from September 10-13.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 25 member SAIs. Tonga’s representative to the meeting was the auditor general Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa. Also present in Guam were representatives of development partners such as the United Nations Development Programme, AusAID, the INTOSAI Development Initiative, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank.

The congress set out a new initiative program to improve accountability and transparency in the region. In a statement it outlined five strategic priorities:

1. Strengthening the independencies of Pacific SAIs
2. Strengthening transparency and accountability and financial management in Pacific Island countries and territories through strengthened public financial reporting, public audit and legislative oversight.
3. Promoting and enhancing effective accountability and financial management in Pacific Island countries and territories through strengthened public financial reporting, public audit, and legislative oversight.
4. Continuing to strengthen the capacity and capability of PASAI’s member SAIs to perform their mandates within their country’s or territories PFM system.
5. Ensuring the PASAI Secretariat is able to support the implementation and monitoring of strategic priorities 1 to 4.

According to the association, “The Congress adopted as a new strategic goal that within the next ten years the public resources of all participating countries are audited in a timely manner, and government resources are assessed for effectiveness and efficiency, to uniformly high standards with enhanced audit impacts and improved audit capacity.”