UAE’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE Internal Auditors Association (UAE-IAA) to enhance cooperation in community initiatives and projects, exchange internal systems and work procedures, and improve internal auditing services.
Under this MoU, the MoF will provide the needed facilities and human competencies to implement internal auditing programs and activities.
On the other hand, the UAE-IAA will arrange and execute training courses and programs and consult on various internal auditing issues, including internal control, risk management, governance, and quality assurance service provision. According to the statement, the MoU was signed for three years and will be automatically renewed.
Ms. Fatima Alnaqbi, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for Support Services Sector at MoF emphasized the importance of this MoU in boosting joint efforts to improve the services provided by both parties and strengthen internal capabilities.
“The Ministry of Finance works with all the relevant parties to hold seminars and workshops that are aligned with our high-standard services, and to exchange experiences in the field of internal work procedures and systems. This stems from the ministry’s keenness to drive progress and serve the public interest, particularly as internal auditing issues are key in ensuring credibility and transparency in government financial work,” Ms. Alnaqbi stated.
Mr. Abdulqader Obaid Ali, UAE-IAA’s Board of Governors Chairman mentioned that “such internal auditing standards will help ensure integrity, transparency, and equal opportunities to uncover and improve competencies. They also help in devising general frameworks that support solving financial issues transparently, thus enhancing the quality of finance-related affairs.”
The MoF has been keen to develop all its devices and channels to enhance internal auditing processes.
“For instance, it offers ‘report on whistleblowing cases’ service, which is a secure and confidential communication channel that can be accessed by all stakeholders associated with the ministry (employees, individuals, public and private sector) through which they can submit their whistleblowing reports with good intentions about any corruption-violations to the Internal Audit Office without any fear of retaliation,” as per the statement.
