Chairperson Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan led the Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) delegation to the XXI International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions (INCOSAI) held in Beijing, China on October 21-27, 2013.

Commissioners Heidi L. Mendoza and Rowena V. Guanzon, Assistant Commissioner Luz L. Tolentino of the Professional and Institutional Development Sector, Director Robert M. Baldago and Edgardo Lamberto L. Ramos, both of the Public Information Office, complete the COA delegation.

 The XXI INCOSAI focused on two themes: National Audit and National Governance and The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in Safe-guarding Long-Term Sustainability of Finance Policies. The discussions centered on the need for a comprehensive audit mandate for SAIs to be able to fulfill their tasks as well as the need to perform audits on public debt and on medium and long-term budget planning to play an effective role in sustainable development.

The inauguration ceremony, held in the great Hall of the People on October 22, was graced by the People’s Republic of China Premier Mr. Li Keqiang who underlined the importance of external government auditing and its role in good global governance. United Nations (UN) Undersecretary General Mr. Wu Hongbu presented the greetings address of UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

The publication "60 Years INTOSAI – 50 Years General Secretariat – Transparency, Accountability, Good Governance. Serving the Citizens" was distributed among all participating delegations. It is also available on the INTOSAI website www.intosai.org in "publications". 

 Other highlights of the Congress included the conferment of the Jörg Kandutsch Award for meritorious services in government auditing to INTOSAI Secretary General Josef Moser in his capacity as President of the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) recognizing ACA’s successful reform measures and activities with regard to the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution A/66/209 on strengthening the independence of SAIs; and the Elmar B. Staats Award to Zhou Yining and Zhou Gangying for their joint article "Establishing Judgements about Materiality in Government Audits: Experiences of Chinese Local Government Auditors".