Great Start to CReCER 2015!

Promoting Growth through Improved Financial Accountability
Great Start to CReCER 2015!
Leaders from the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),
Office of the Comptroller General of Ecuador, the Colegio de Contadores
Públicos de Pichincha (CCPP), the International Federation of Accountants
(IFAC), and the Ministry of Finance welcomed over 200 participants from 30
countries to CReCER 2015. Cristina Trujillo, President of the CCPP invited
participants to engage in rich discussions and to take advantage of the wealth
of knowledge to be shared by regional and international experts.
Opening Address Panel
The Comptroller General of Ecuador, Carlos Pólit Faggioni congratulated
the visionary interaction of the Global Partners in organizing CReCER 2015
around the timely theme, Preserving Economic Gains and Investing in the
Future, and for bringing to the forefront the linkage between accountability
and better results. Mr. Pólit pointed to the need to “plant fertile ground”
through institutions that promote growth, paying attention to the skills gap,
and for continued action on responsible financial management of resources.
Morgan Doyle, Ecuador Country Representative, IDB, spoke of IDB’s
commitment to the region and the importance of increasing productivity and
reducing inequality in a sustainable manner, in order to continue to transform
Latin America and the Caribbean. He lauded CReCER for being a space to
share progress and discuss challenges.
Jorge Familiar, VP Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank,
highlighted the relevance of transparency and accountability in the region to
achievement of the twin goals of reduction of extreme poverty and boosting
shared prosperity. In that sense, he outlined how conference discussions are
directly linked to enhancing the credibility of governments’ income base,
management of government’s resources, and building investor confidence.
In wrapping up the opening addresses, Fausto Herrera, Minister of
Opening Address Audience
Finance, Ecuador, shared with the audience Ecuador’s initiative to improve
the preparation of high quality financial information in both the public and
private sectors through the adoption and implementation of international
accounting standards. He was pleased that CReCER would provide another
opportunity for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange. All five speakers set the
stage for the next few days of discussions on what will be critical priorities for
improvements in financial accountability in the public and private sectors, for
growth and a sustainable future.
“IDB’s alliance with Latin America and the
Caribbean to continue to improve lives”
During CReCER 2015, Morgan Doyle,
Ecuador Country Representative, IDB, discussed
the significant role that strong public financial
management (PFM) systems play in helping
countries meet development objectives. With an
active portfolio of $3.7 billion dollars in operations
in Ecuador, IDB’s partnership also covers initiatives
to strengthen PFM across a number of key areas,
such as:
Morgan Doyle
• Good governance in the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) through the
implementation of international standards.
• Modernization of budgetary and accounting practices.
• The adoption and implementation of International Public Sector
Accounting Standards (IPSASs), and the transition from cash to accrual
basis accounting.
• The promotion of exchange of best practices between the public and
private sectors.
Plenary 1
The first plenary session of the morning, International Standard Setting in
the Public Interest: Perspectives, Opportunities, and Challenges,
highlighted the importance of financial information to the economies of Latin
America, and the role of international standards in an increasingly globalized world.
Jorge Familiar, VP Latin America
and the Caribbean (LAC), World Bank
spoke of the progress in LAC during
the past decade and a half and the
current changing conditions, which
make growth strategies that preserve
and expand gains a top priority. He
Plenary 1 Panel
emphasized the linkage between accounting, auditing and financial reporting
and strategies that address the need to invest in infrastructure, develop human
capital, and improve social protection, in a sustainable manner.
Reliable, audited, and disclosed accounting information provides the necessary
information for government’s management and decision-making processes,
Promoting Growth through Improved Financial Accountability
satisfies citizens’ needs for increased transparency and accountability from
their leaders, and boost investor confidence. In both public and private sectors
financial information is essential to manage financial and project risks. Olivia
Kirtley, President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
highlighted the global interconnectedness of markets, countries and people,
and the need for a global architecture that supports globalization. However,
regulatory fragmentation continues to hinder attainment of global standards,
used by everyone, that are consistent and protects the public interest. IFAC
continues to develop and promote international standards for the profession
and the public sector, and places great emphasis on oversight arrangements
to enhance legitimacy, transparency, and the production of robust standards.
Looking to the future, Ms. Kirtley stressed the importance of enhancing the
professions’ competency and credibility through education and certification,
as well as the need for quality assurance arrangements that enhance faith
in the profession. In addition, she spoke of the importance of embracing
an integrated reporting framework that captures the economic and social
components of capital. In closing she called for even greater collaboration in
the region particularly on certification of the profession, pointing to GLENIF’s
example in standard setting.
Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards
Board (IASB), shared that the mission of the IASB in developing
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is guided by the fact
that in the capital markets “people work with other people’s money”
and many transactions take place across borders. As a result, IFRSs
are built on transparency to facilitate comparability, accountability to
reduce information gap, and economic efficiency to identify opportunity
and risk. Ultimately, single global standards, such as IFRS, contribute to
global stability. In the upcoming months, the IASB intends to complete
major projects, including a new Lease Accounting standard, revisions to
the Conceptual Framework, and improvements to financial statements
disclosures to make them more useful. The IASB encourages LAC to
provide comments on IASB’s upcoming draft four-year agenda.
Plenary 2
The equally well-attended second plenary session of the morning, Public
Sector Accountability as Part of the Social Contract between
Citizens and Government, delved into progress in the region on
adoption and implementation of international standards in the public sector
and innovative approaches by Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), to enhance
transparency and accountability of the regions’ governments.
The presentation by Mario Marcel Cullell, Sr. Director of the Governance
Global Practice in the World Bank, emphasized the fundamental importance
of open, effective and accountable institutions for inclusive development at the
national, regional and global levels. He spoke of the role that reliable institutions
play in generating confidence in government among citizens, and helping
development strategies to be fulfilled by implementing policies. Over the past
8 years, CReCER has been a change agent, providing support to the region’s
effort to strengthen governance and continues to respond to evolving needs. In
that vein, Mr. Marcel pointed to the evolution of public financial reforms in Latin
America from a focus on budget and fiscal statistics issues to include accounting.
In closing, Mr. Marcel presented results of a recent survey conducted by the World
Bank, which indicated that based on current plans all countries in Latin America
will have adopted International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by the
end of the decade. The future of successful reforms rests on coordination at the
regional level and on the analysis and use of international accounting standards for
management and decision-making.
Plenary 2 Panel
Andreas Bergmann, Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting
Standards Board (IPSASB), highlighted the linkage between reforms and
accountability, as well as the positive relationship between transparency,
debt levels and interest rates. While sharing the experience in Switzerland,
he demonstrated the critical role of a uniform chart of accounts, integrated
information systems, and international accounting standards to the reform
process for budgeting, accounting, auditing and GFS. He encouraged countries
to continue to pursue integration of the budget, fiscal statistics and accounting.
Furthermore, although the costs of government accounting reforms are high the
benefits, which range from rediscovered assets to reduced interest rates and
better management of assets and obligations, are tremendous.
While the other plenary speakers discussed issues related to government
accounting reform, Minister Aroldo Cedraz spoke of the critical role of
Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and citizen participation to democracy.
Furthermore, that citizen participation is essential to SAIs’ ability to strengthen
external control and improve government’s transparency and accountability, while
raising public confidence. Therefore, identification of methods to introduce online
participatory platforms that involve citizens is a top priority, as is expansion of social
participation in the entire public administration system. He cited investments in
technology as the key to promoting open data. He ended his presentation with
the prediction that, “we will see the day when people in Brazil can interact with
the State and receive information to access public service on their cell phone.”
Thank you!
Global Partners – the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank,
International Federation of Accountants, and the Global Public Policy
Committee, local partners – Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Pichincha
(CCPP), the Ministry of Finance and the Supreme Audit Institution,
and the regional partner, the Inter-American Accounting Association,
thank you for joining us for CReCER 2015. Thanks for sharing your
knowledge and experiences so that together we can transform our
region through improved governance, transparency and accountability.