06 NOVEMBER 2023 15:52

NIK President Marian Banaś took part in the conference closing the EU Twinning Project carried out by the Supreme Audit Office of Poland for the Audit Bureau of Jordan. The event was held on 30 October 2023 in Amman.

The project was called: Strengthening the capacities of the Audit Bureau of Jordan. That was yet another twinning project undertaken by NIK. Previously the Polish SAI conducted similar projects in the SAI of Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kosovo and Palestine.  

The Jordanian project was made of three components listed below:

• Improvement of the AB’s capacity to apply a risk-based audit approach for both the financial and the compliance audits in accordance with INTOSAI auditing standards and best practice;
• Improvement of the AB’s capacity to undertake quality assurance reviews in accordance with INTOSAI auditing standards and producing good quality audit reports;
• Improvement of the AB’s capacity to apply a risk-based audit approach for IT audits in accordance with INTOSAI GUID 5100 and application of TeamMate and apply Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) when undertaking audits.

In his speech during the conference NIK President addressed the project results achieved:  

“After over two and a half years of hard work, long discussions, weeks of training and four study visits we can say that we achieved a mutual success. I view this achievement with pride and satisfaction. We shared our best practice, experience and methodology with Jordan auditors and we found in them colleagues open to new solutions, committed and eager to learn. The Audit Bureau of Jordan has been strengthened to conduct financial and compliance audits in line with the highest, current international standards. The AB has been equipped with modern methodologies, updated on an ongoing basis, and analytical applications, which help auditors work faster, more effectively and with high efficiency. The best confirmation of my words are numerous pilot audits conducted as part of this project in a professional and reliable manner.”

NIK President Marian Banaś thanked Head of the Jordan SAI Dr. Radhi Al-Hamadeen for excellent cooperation, for strong support and exceptional involvement in the project execution. Also, Marian Banaś expressed hope that cooperation of NIK and the AB would be continued in the following years to maintain positive results of the project.

NIK President also gave his heartfelt thanks to the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Amman Lucjan Karpiński, Ambassador of the European Union, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and other persons involved.  

In his speech President of the Jordan SAI Dr. Radhi Al-Hamadeen thanked NIK for carrying out the project and underlined the importance of the international support for development of the institution under his charge:

“The capacity of the Audit Bureau of Jordan has been strengthened in terms of conducting audits in line with the current international auditing standards. (…)

All the tasks and duties expected from the SAI of Jordan require constant and in-depth cooperation with other SAIs, such as NIK. The cooperation helps us draw from the SAIs’ experience and stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the areas of financial, compliance and performance auditing. The EU support helps us pursue our objectives.”

The twinning project between NIK and its Jordan counterpart started on 8 May 2021. The overall implementation time of the project was thirty months (after it was prolonged by 9 months, at the Jordan SAI’s request). The project budget was EUR 2 million and was fully financed by the European Union.

EU Ambassador to Jordan Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, present at the project closing, said he appreciated NIK’s contribution to the development of effective state auditing in Jordan and assured that the course of the Jordan SAI’s development could be supported in the future.

Besides, NIK President Marian Banaś paid visit to the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where the role of state audit and good practice in cooperation with law enforcement bodies were discussed.

The Supreme Audit Office of Poland has been a valued and sought-after partner for other SAIs for many years now. Cooperation with NIK helps build modern and professional state audit institutions.