The President of SAI Slovenia Jana Ahčin responded to the invitation by the President of Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Serbia and State Auditor General, dr. Duško Pejović, and attended the anniversary event of SAI Serbia between 24 and 26 July 2024 in Belgrade. On the first day, a formal reception took place that also opened the exhibition titled From the highest control to the national audit institution 1844–2024 at the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The second day followed the conference in the form of expert panel discussions. The event closed with an official celebration at the National Theatre.
The event brought together representatives of SAIs from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, North Macedonia, Republic of Srpska, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The conference, which was organised by SAI Serbia, focused on the following three topics: importance of auditing public spending, development trends and cooperation among SAIs, and benefits SAIs bring to the State and its citizens.
The first panel discussion was opened by the President of SAI Serbia, dr. Duško Pejović, and followed by the President of the Commission for finance, State budget and control of public spending, and other deputies. The main speakers of the second panel discussion were Goritsa Grancharova – Kozhareva, Acting President of SAI Bulgaria, Wael Abdul Qader, Acting Head of Monitoring and Auditing Sector at the Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority, and Jaroslav Ivančo, Vice-President of SAI Slovak Republic. They all emphasised the importance of adjusting the audit process to the issues of artificial intelligence, technological literacy development and environmental protection audits.
The third panel discussion was dedicated to the benefits the SAIs bring to the State and its citizens. The keynote speakers of this part of the conference included dr. Jelena Kočović, full professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade, Dušan Stojaković, economic editor at the Novosti newspaper, and Njeboša Lazarević, member of the Governing Board of the European Policy Centre. They highlighted the importance of balance between theory and practice and focused on the audit of higher education institutions and importance of implementing recommendations proposed by SAIs.
The closing solemn ceremony took place at the National Theatre in Belgrade. It was attended by the representatives of legislature and executive branches, international supreme audit institutions, international organisations, the media, civil society organisations, and by the employees of SAI Serbia. The President of SAI Serbia, dr. Duško Pejović, reminded all the present of the long history of the institution whose job, irrespective of its name, has always been to control public spending and to ensure sound management of State funds.
The attendees of the ceremony were addressed by the President of the Government of Vojvodina, Maja Gojković. In her speech, she stressed that the SAI is one of the most significant independent bodies of control and key player in the field of sound financial management of the State. President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, gave a closing speech, emphasising that already our ancestors very long time ago believed that they have the right to know how public money is spent. Today, in her opinion, such control is even more crucial. Furthermore, Mrs Brnabić draw attention to the role of SAI Serbia, which is far from easy, since it controls institutions and provides assistance to the Republic of Serbia in managing public funds, namely the money of its citizens, thus directly contributing to the improvement of their life and wellbeing.