The visiting delegation of the Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA), led by its Deputy President Mr Fikret Çöker, called on Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday. Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), Rana Assad Amin, accompanied the delegation.
The two sides discussed matters relating to the enhancement of cooperation between TCA and AGP, including the MoU signed last year in order to mutually benefit from each other’s experience and expertise. The MOU provides for cooperation through parallel/joint audits, cooperative audits and peer reviews.
Minister Dar expressed his condolences to Mr Fikret Çöker and the Turkish people over the loss of precious lives in the terrorist attacks in Turkey. He said that the people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with Turkey at this difficult time. Minister Dar said that Pakistan has also suffered from attacks in the last two weeks which have resulted in the loss of numerous innocent lives in different parts of the country. He emphasised that the government and people of Pakistan are strongly determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
Minister Dar said that like Turkey, the constitution of Pakistan provides for the mechanism of AGP, which functions independently and has the mandate to ensure transparency in all financial matters of the country.
He added that Pakistan welcomes a close collaboration between TCA and AGP that could help modernise audit practices in both countries, thereby bringing improvement in overall governance, with particular emphasis on transparency in financial matters.
On this occasion, Dar also appraised the TCA delegation about Pakistan’s participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative which aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. He said that Pakistan has also become a member of the OECD Anti-Tax Evasion Convention.
In his remarks on the occasion, Mr Fikret Coker said that friendship between Turkey and Pakistan is very deep-rooted and one of a kind. He highlighted that the current visit is focused on streamlining cooperation activities between TCA and AGP under the MoU signed last year, and in this regard, they had a detailed exchange of views with senior officials at the AGP office.
He also welcomed the concepts of a parallel and joint audit, and exchange of visits by experts. He assured complete cooperation from TCA in upgrading audit systems in both the countries.
Mr Fikret Coker on behalf of the president TCA and members of his delegation; expressed a deep sense of sorrow over the heinous acts of terror that occurred across the country during the last few days. He said that the Turkish people shared the grief of their Pakistani brethren and prayed that Allah may grant them the courage to bear the great loss of precious lives.
Senior officials of the ministry of finance and AGP Office attended the meeting.
