United States
As part of the 2016 agreement with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), GAO assisted the SAO in capacity development. In the framework of this cooperation, together with the USAID, the IT auditors were trained at the GAO Center of Excellence to develop the IT audit direction. Within the framework of cooperation, the SAO representatives have attended a four-month International Auditor Fellowship Program (IAFP) in Washington. In 2020 following the online bilateral meeting with the GAO Comptroller General and the USAID Mission Director performance audit results impact assessment project has been launched.
Azerbaijan
In 2019, in the scope of the visit of the Auditor General of the State Audit Office to the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and following the bilateral high level meeting, the Memorandum of Understanding has been renewed between the two institutions which entails public external audit methodology and standardization of experience sharing, parallel audits, expert and analytical activities. In the framework of bilateral relations in 2020-2022, the SAO shared its experience in the field of audit methodologies, procurement audit, public debt audit, IT audit, budget analysis, strategic planning and public audit certification to the Chamber of Accounts of Azerbaijan.
Belgium
In 2019 during the visit of the SAO together with the representatives of the Parliament of Georgia to the Belgian Court of Audit, the Auditor General and the President of the Belgian Court of Audit signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the parties creating the basis for the deepened bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The Belgian Court of Audit shared with the SAO staff an opportunity for an internship programme under the EUROSAI Internship and Secondment Programme.
Germany
The German Supreme Audit Institution (Bundesrechnungshof), with a long-term cooperation background, provided expert-analytical support to the SAO in various areas: improving the legal framework for external financial control and bringing it in line with International Standards of Auditing (ISSAI), strengthening performance and financial audits, updating annual performance report, updating strategic and annual planning, reorganizing the SAO and configuration of the Audit Management Program (AMS).
United Kingdom
Bilateral relations with the UK National Audit Office aspires to exchange expert knowledge in the field of public auditing. Namely, in 2018, the representatives from the NAO, shared their experiences for implementing International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) over the trainings for the SAO auditors. Deepening relations with the NAO is planned in different areas. In addition, within its competence, the SAO has been involved in the preparation of the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Georgia and the United Kingdom. Mostly in multilateral format, the SAO participates in the EUROSAI Project Group on Auditing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic initiated by the NAO. In addition, the SAO IT auditors were certified in IT audit at the British Standards Institution (BSI).
Israel
Within EUROSAI-ASOSAI joint conference in Israel in 2019, the SAO management held a bilateral meeting with the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel. During the bilateral meeting, and the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed aiming to share experiences and practices between the SAIs.
Korea
In 2018, the delegation of the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea paid a working visit to the SAO in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding concluded in 2016, where the parties agreed to develop relations and deepen international cooperation in citizen participation that supported the creation of a web platform “Budget Monitor” that enables stakeholders to obtain reliable information regarding public finance management. During the visit, the Korean delegation also met with the Chairperson of Tbilisi Municipality Sakrebulo and its members.
Latvia
Memorandum of Understanding signed with the State Audit Office of Latvia (Valsts Kontrole) in 2010 entails experience sharing and cooperation whithin international projects. The State Audit Office of Latvia has assisted the SAO to refine financial and compliance audits with training in financial, compliance, performance audits and risk analysis in audit planning. With financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the State Audit Office of Latvia, since 2015, has been annually supporting the SAIs of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as signatories of the Association Agreement, in terms of enhancing the external audit role. In 2018, Latvian auditors assisted the SAO in developing an ethics handbook as part of an EU project. After bilateral meeting between the Auditor General and the Auditor General of the Republic of Latvia, the SAO joined the EUROSAI Communications Focus Group. Bilateral cooperation deepened in 2019 with the high level meetings of the SAO and Parliamentary delegation at the Valsts kontrole, and the Anticorruption Bureau and the Latvian Parliament. In 2019, experience sharing meetings on annual budget execution report and IT audit quality assurance has been shared. In 2022, the Latvian SAI board member assisted the SAO in conducting the self-assessment with IntoSAINT methodology earning the highest scores in internal governance and ethics section.
The Netherlands
Within bilateral cooperation format with the Netherlands Court of Audit (NCA), starting in 2012, proceeded by the visit of the SAO in the Hague over the EUROSAI IX Congress in 2014, following the bilateral meeting between the Auditor General of the SAO and the President of NCA in 2019, with the support of the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands the capacity building project for the SAO in quality assurance has launched. Within the framework of the project, a team of Quality Assessment Reviewers team was set up and after their visit in the Hague, they have fostered quality assurance and control system back to the SAO. Within the framework of the 2020-2022 Constituency program, experience sharing has been facilitated with the NCA staff with their visits to the SAO, and up to ten online meetings, about the budget execution process, strategic programming and external orientation among the SAIs Sweden, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. The NCA strongly assisted the SAO with the assessment by IntoSAINT methodology in 2018 and 2022.
Norway
In 2016, the State Audit Office purchased and implemented an Audit Management System (AMS) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway. The system ensures the implementation of a uniform audit practice throughout the SAO, significantly increases the quality of the audit and the efficiency of the office.
Poland
The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Supreme Audit Office of Poland (NIK) in 2014 extends in many directions, including trainings and seminars, conferences, and other projects. In the course of cooperation with the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, following the initiative of the President of the NIK, Multilateral Declaration of Partnership and Cooperation was signed between the SAIs of Georgia, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine in 2015. Within the cooperation, the SAO auditors pariticpated in a number of trainings at the NIK Training Center.
Saudi Arabia
The SAO has been awarded the $100,000 grant in a grant competition from the Saudi Fund for Improved SAI Performance (Saudi FSIP) established by the General Court of Audit of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This financial award has equipped the SAO with the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – VDI centralizing, optimizing and increasing data security for the IT systems.
Armenia
With the Chamber of Audit of the Republic of Armenia, with the support of the GIZ programme in Georgia “Public Finance Management in the South Caucasus” the Memorandum of Understanding has been renewed with the Chairman of the Audit Chamber of Armenia which entails experience sharing in financial, compliance and performance audit methodologies, organizing professional conferences and exchange of experience.
Ukraine
The SAO has close bilateral, multilateral and regional relations with the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine. In 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the visit of the Chairman of the Audit Chamber of Ukraine, which envisages the sharing of best practices and strengthening professional skills. Under the Memorandum, the Ukrainian auditors underwent professional development in financial and performance audits in 2019. In the same year, in the format of regional relations, the SAO hosted Eastern Partnership EaP countries Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia to launch a parallel audit GIZ project. After successful completion of the project, the SAO management along with the partner countries, visited the Accounts Chamber of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to discuss the results of the audit. The SAO is involved in the EUROSAI Working Group on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes (WGAFAD&C) set up by the initiative of Ukraine.
Finland
In 2019 following the SAO and the Parliamentary delegation visit to the National Audit Office of Finland with an exchange of experince meetings in the monitorying of political funding, and bilateral meeting between the auditor generals, Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Georgian and the Finnish Supreme Audit Institution in Helsinki that presupposes exchange of experience in many directions.
Sweden
The MoU signed between the SAO and the Swedish National Audit Office in 2010 aimed at institutional development of the SAO for fulfilling its role in public administration of Georgia. With the support of the SNAO, the practice of performance audit was introduced, the SAO developed financial and compliance audits in line with international standards and trained auditors in audit directions.
