By Sherouq Sadeqi
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- Acting Chairman for the State Audit Bureau of Kuwait Adel Al-Saraawi said on Saturday that his visit to Washington aimed to benefit from the expertise of similar bodies around the world.
Kuwait is on the verge of switching from the traditional auditing methodology to Risk-based Internal Audit (RBIA), including audits based on information technology and service assurance, in order to improve monitoring services in the country.
A timeframe between 2018 and 2020 has been set for the plans, he said, which have been praised by US counterparts, whom have pledged to meet with the Kuwaitis on an annual basis and offer workshops and expertise exchange forums.
Expertise delivered at these forums will focus on four major topics, said Al-Saraawi, including IT auditing, oil and gas excavation, risk assessment and performance measurement indicators.
This exchange will bring Kuwait up to par with advanced countries in the field of auditing, he mentioned.
On the conclusion of his two-day visit, he said he met with World Bank representatives, whom he briefed on Kuwait's ambitions and the challenges facing the country's auditing body in training its employees.
For its part, the World Bank expressed readiness to provide Kuwait with many aspects of its own expertise on the matter, he said.
Al-Saraawi's trip to the US also saw him visit the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), where he was witness to the body's role in conducting the High Risk List - a biennial report which highlights state bodies and programmes that face the risk of fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement.
Kuwait's State Audit Bureau is extremely keen to benefit from global expertise, and has increased its interactions with other countries.
This month alone, Al-Saraawi said Kuwaiti representatives held meetings, in the aim of technical cooperation, with their counterparts from China, India and South Korea.
In China, they discussed developing staff potentials, while talks in India focused on IT auditing and the Orange Book evaluation system along with discussions in South Korea on auditing related to construction projects. (end) si.sd