TheInstitute of Internal Auditors jointly with The Scientific Accounting Association (QU) and the Institute of Administrative Development held a seminar on 12^th March 2008 at the Institute of Administrative Development. This is the first joint event between these bodies. Dr. Khalid N Al-Khater, Chairman of Scientific Accounting Association, Dr Rashid Ali Aldosari, General Manager, Institute of Administrative Development, Awad Mohd Seed Ahmed, Corporate Internal Auditor, Q-tel,  main sponsor of the event and Jeypriya Partiban, Partner, KPMG sponsor were guests of honor..

Afzal Ismail startedhis presentation on challenges faced by internal audit by explaining changes happening in the Gulf countries and its consequences. In terms of business development Middle East is still in nascent stages as far as size of companies, development of commercial and industrial sector including stock exchanges. The difference is in transparency, good management and safety of investment. The Governments are currently looking to the post oil world to have sustainable economies and industries as indicated by massive investments taking place. Business strategies changed and to be world class, businesses need a legally secure, well regulated and transparent environment. Internal audit emerged as regulatory requirement for companies and there is emergence of corporate governance as board responsibility. Central banks pioneered financial institutions to comply with guidelines and reporting. Afzal stated that Internal Auditors should acquire knowledge of business, be involved in projects, due diligence etc and cannot remain insular. He summed up saying that auditors should help management to create value rather than just preserve value meaning don’t just help to avoid losses but help to improve revenues and profitability.

Christian Adonis, President of IIA Qatar, handled the next part of the presentation “Value Internal Audit is adding to organizations" He stated that research indicate that reasons for business failures include poor corporate governance from among other issues such as Debt, Inadequate Leadership, Poor Planning,  Failure to change etc. Traditional audit revolved around custodianship whereas IA now encompasses Corporate Governance. Inadequate internal controls in organization affect its functioning by having no strategic goal setting, improper decisions support, exposure for fraud etc. Value addition by internal audit can be achieved by way of audit’s unique position within organization having vast body of knowledge, the ability to be objective and impartial, knowledge of business dynamics and having ability to view matters from a control standpoint. Chris gave exhaustive illustration of areas of value addition by internal audit. That includes ideas on how opportunities and risks could be balanced, assessing the ethical climate, systems thinker to see the bigger picture/integration, evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of all other controls and so on.

Dr. Khalid raised a question on the nationals evincing interest to the auditing profession. The need is to propagate the profession’s potential for career growth by the opportunity it provides to learn the business and management issues. This should later help employees to move to higher levels of management after successful stint in the audit.

Sundaresan Rajeswar, Vice President of IIA introduced the speakers. He said that seriousness triggers significant change. Corporate debacles exposed serious inadequacies in the systems, controls, governance and legislations. These were the forte of auditors but often disregarded by the management. Assaad Kanaan, Secretary of IIA acknowledged the speakers and sponsors of the event.