News:  Year 2006: October-December

Auditor General of Bhutan leads a delegation to India 

December 11, 2006: The Auditor General of Bhutan is leading a delegation comprising of 3 senior level officials from the Royal Audit Authority. While in India, the Auditor General and his team will hold discussions with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the extension of the existing MoU and on further strengthening the relationship between the two institutions. According to the Human Resource and International Relations Division of the RAA, the extension of the MoU will guarantee continuous slots for two officers from the RAA at the prestigious IA&AS, Shimla; very experienced and high level resource persons for the in-house training and various other opportunities in the filed of professional development. The RAA has hugely benefited from the current MoU which will end in December 2007. 

While in India, the Auditor General and his team will visit IA & AS Academy at Shimla and few other places  and also hold discussions with other relevant organizations to establish institutional linkages. The team is scheduled to arrive back on 20^th December 2006.

Two Officers of the RAA leaves for 15 months Course at the prestigious IA&AS, Shimla 

December 11, 2006: Mr. Karma Jambayang, Audit Officer and Mr. Minjur Dorji, Asstt. Audit Officer left for 15 months course at the Indian Audit & Accounts Service, Shimla on 8^th December 2006. 

According to the Human Resource and International Relations Division, they are the last batch of officers to be trained at this institute under the current MoU between the Royal Audit Authority and the Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. With this group a total of 12 officers of the RAA would have undergone this course under the MoU. However, he noted that currently the Auditor General of Bhutan is in India to discuss on the extension of the MoU. Based on the mutual consent of both the partners, the MoU could be extended for a further period of six years.

Auditor General briefs the Chief Executive Officers of the Corporations and Financial Institutions

October 30, 2006: The Auditor General of Bhutan briefed the Chief Executive Officers of the Financial Institutions and Corporations on 26^th and 27^th October 2006 respectively, at the Conference Hall of the Royal Audit Authority.

The Auditor General informed the CEOs of the role played by the RAA as a constitutional body. “The entire mandate and the roles played by the RAA in the new democratic set up is being summed by these three little words ( Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness) appearing in the draft Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Audit Act of Bhutan 2006” said the Auditor General of Bhutan, Dasho Ugen Chewang. The CEOs were also informed of the various activities undertaken by the RAA and other future directions of the RAA towards fulfilling this important role. At the same time the Auditor General also stressed on the role played by the corporations and financial institutions in steering the economy of Bhutan.

Some of the important issues discussed during the meeting were;

•  Need to conduct statutory audit and propriety audit together,

•  Minimizing overlapping and duplication of efforts

• Selection of Statutory Auditors

• Statutory Audit Fee and expenses