15 September 2022: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE Internal Auditors Association (UAE-IAA) for a period of three years, and it will automatically renew. The MoU, which was signed today at MoF’s headquarters in Dubai, is aimed at boosting cooperation in community initiatives and projects, exchanging internal systems and work procedures, and improving internal auditing services. Fatima Alnaqbi, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for Support Services Sector at MoF signed the MoU on behalf of the ministry; and Abdulqader Obaid Ali, UAE-IAA's Board of Governors Chairman signed it on behalf of the UAE-IAA. Fatima Alnaqbi emphasised the importance of this MoU in boosting joint efforts to improve the services provided by both parties and strengthen internal capabilities. This is by organising events, activities, training courses, and workshops aimed at ensuring that international best practices are applied in all aspects of work. “The Ministry of Finance works with all the relevant parties to hold seminars and workshops that are aligned with our high-standard services, and to exchange experiences in the field of internal work procedures and systems. This stems from the ministry’s keenness to drive progress and serve the public interest, particularly as internal auditing issues are key in ensuring credibility and transparency in government financial work,” she stated. Abdulqader Ali stressed on the importance of cooperating with the Ministry of Finance through this MoU, which will serve as the bedrock of laying internal auditing foundations and standards – ones that are in accordance with the best international practices across all the relevant fields. Additionally, he mentioned that such internal auditing standards will help ensure integrity, transparency, and equal opportunities to uncover and improve competencies. They also help in devising general frameworks that support solving financial issues transparently, thus enhancing the quality of finance-related affairs. Under this MoU, the MoF will provide the needed facilities and human competencies to implement internal auditing programmes and activities. On the other hand, the UAE-IAA will arrange and execute training courses and programmes and consult on various internal auditing issues, including internal control, risk management, governance, and quality assurance service provision. The MoF has been keen to develop all its devices and channels to enhance internal auditing processes. For instance, it offers ‘report on whistleblowing cases’ service, which is a secure and confidential communication channel that can be accessed by all stakeholders associated with the ministry (employees, individuals, public and private sector) through which they can submit their whistleblowing reports with good intentions about any corruption-violations to the Internal Audit Office without any fear of retaliation.
