Categories: SpeechesPublished On: 13/08/2020

Distinguished Speakers, Ladies & Gentlemen

  1. Good morning and welcome to the Public Sector Internal Audit Conference 2020 jointly organised by MIA and the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (IIA Malaysia), our first Public Sector Internal Audit Conference to be held virtually.
  2. We are now into the second half of 2020, and we are still enduring the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts. COVID-19 is unprecedented as a pandemic-driven economic and social crisis, and its consequences too are unpredictable. Turbulence, uncertainty, volatility, crisis, risks – these are the hallmarks of the new normal that we have to deal with today. To address these, I believe that risk management is an essential skill that everybody needs.
  3. As risks rise, so do the stakes. As frontliners in risk management and governance, expectations and demands being placed on internal auditors are rising in tandem. That is the rationale behind the theme of today’s Conference – Meeting Rising Expectations in Internal Audit.
  4. Among the areas that will be looked at over the course of the two days are: IT risk exposure and impacts on corporate governance; the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence to improve risk management and controls, and transforming the culture of internal audit to achieve better risk management, governance and trust.
  5. Today MIA and IIA Malaysia are honoured to host our keynote speaker DR. ONG HOCK CHYE, Auditor General of the Asian Development Bank. He has over 30 years of broad-based international experience in governance, risks, and internal control at the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme. Hock Chye will be able to give you the big picture of where internal audit is heading, and how internal auditors in the public sector especially can help drive sustainable development in the COVID-19 era – a time when fiscal constraints are impacting public service delivery, could affect public sector governance and risk management, and ultimately erode the public interest.
  6. Ladies and gentlemen. As leaders and advisors in risk management and controls, public sector internal auditors must be able to forecast different risk scenarios and formulate strategies for mitigation. In addition, you will need to be able to advise the policymaking and executive functions on rethinking and recalibrating policies and actions to ensure economic sustainability and social wellbeing. This Conference is specially designed to guide you on how to put this into practice.
  7. As somebody with a keen interest in risk management, I am looking forward to learning more about the different issues arising in risk management, especially the applications of technology in public sector governance. In ending, I would like to thank our supporters; our speakers and all of you for making time to join us, and to IIA Malaysia as joint organisers of the Conference.
  8. I wish everybody a productive Conference and please utilise these two days to ask a lot of questions and learn as much as you can. Stay Safe and Healthy!