Auditor General participates in GCC Supreme Audit Institutions meeting

Jeddah, Oct. 25 (BNA): Auditor General Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa participated in the 19th meeting of the Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The Secretary-General of the GCC for Arab States Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al Hajraf was present. The auditor general said that the National Audit Office (NAO) always tries to promote joint Gulf action to achieve goals of mutual interest in support of the relations established by the Heads of the GCC countries. He said that cooperation within the Gulf in the field of auditing was expanding as many joint programs and plans especially related to training, development and knowledge sharing were being implemented. The SAI heads approved the draft training plan for the year 2023, which included 5 programs: "Indicators for Measuring the Performance of Internal Audit Units," "Audit of Health Sector," "Developments in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs)," "Present-day Auditing in the Age of Technology" and "Performance Assessment of Strategic Plans". The participants approved the strategic plan for training for the next three years (2023-2025), which had been prepared by the NAO of Bahrain. The 2023-2025 plan was based on three strategic objectives: developing the capacities of the employees in the SAIs of the GCC countries, exchanging experiences and enhancing cooperation with regard to skills and knowledge development, scientific research and vocational qualifications and developing institutional capacities in the field of training, development and knowledge. The SAI heads were briefed on the updated final drafts of the joint manuals: "Auditing Oil and Gas entities", "Pre-monitoring", "Examining Zakat and Tax Revenues". The meeting honored the winners of the fifth competition of the GCC for Research and Studies in the field of auditing and accounting which included 3 topics: "Automation of audit work and its role in developing performance", which was won by Somaia Saleh Almeer and Maryam Ibrahim Taleb from the NAO Bahrain, and "The role of audit institutions in auditing in light of emergency crises" and "Performance Audit of Sustainable Development Goals", which were won by the Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the GCC.