Mr. Hendar Ristriawan, as the Head of ASEANSAI Secretariat, attended the 38th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary General Assembly 15 – 17 September 2017 in Manila Philippines. The event was attended more than 300 delegates from 10 parliament institutions ASEAN countries and from 9 countries outside ASEAN and 3 institutions as the observer such as Korea, Australia, Japan, Russia, EU, China and Belarus.
The heads of delegates were also invited to courtesy call with H.E. Pantaleon D. Alvarez, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Philippines and President of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
At first plenary session of General Assembly, on behalf of ASEANSAI, Mr Ristriawan delivered speech on the importance of SAI independency especially in ASEAN region. He pointed that ASEAN should embody the synergy among government stakeholders and private through strengthening the governance and transparency. In this case, SAIs has the important role in encouraging the good governance practices and transparency in public sector.
In running its function, SAI support the efficiency, effectiveness and economic in sector public altogether which leads to to improved decision-making of the government and this is how public sector auditing is an important factor in making a difference to the lives of citizens, this is in accordance with the basic principal of the ISSAI 12. SAIs can accomplish their tasks, only if they are independent, effective and credible. To achieve this critical objective, it is essential that each country have a SAI whose independence is guaranteed by law, in accordance with the constitutions and respective applied legal system.
Mr. Ristriawan highlighted that good cooperation between Parliaments and SAIs is strategic. The ensuring of SAI independence, as well as ensuring Parliamentary oversight, are sustainable benefits that ultimately serve as a safeguard of the bountiful future we all wish to pass on. Parliament may support SAI to be more functionally and organizationally independent through promoting awareness among parliaments on the essential of SAI independence, through supporting the establishment and protection of the SAI’s mandate with a strong constitutional and legal framework and through ensuring the actual application of the provisions of the framework. When a SAI is both empowered and required by the Constitution to report its findings annually and independently to Parliament or any other responsible public body, the following extensive distribution and discussion will ensure and enhance opportunities for enforcing the findings of the SAI. Therefore, ASEANSAI has initiated cooperation with AIPA to socialize the SAI Independence principles to the parliaments in Southeast Asia region.
AIPA was established in 1977 to facilitate the achievement of ASEAN goals leading to the realization of an ASEAN Community based on three (3) pillars: ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). The ASEANSAI cooperation with AIPA was initiated since 2011. The Vice Chairman of BPK Hasan Bisri, representing ASEANSAI, was invited to deliver speech at the 33rd AIPA General Assembly in 2012 in Lombok, Indonesia.
ASEANSAI delegates at the 38th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary General Assembly also consist of Mr. Sophat Chea (Head of Administration Function – SAI Cambodia) and Mr. Wahyudi (representative of Secretariat – SAI Indonesia).
