An activity was recently held at the Chameleon Suite, Corinthia Palace hotel, Attard, to officially launch the Malta Forum for Internal Auditors. The well attended activity, which was presided by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, also saw the contribution of two prominent experts in the field of internal auditing namely JP Baldacchino (FEMA Head of Department – University of Malta) and Prof. Jean-Pierre Garitte (Independent Management Consulting Professional).

Minister Fenech in his inaugural speech commended all those involved in this initiative, stating that the set up of the MFIA is a key step towards improving the quality and effectiveness of the internal audit profession and should serve as a launching pad for the sharing of knowledge and experience between practitioners in Malta.

He remarked that the present economic climate has made everyone aware of the need to focus on and strengthen internal audit and good corporate governance functions both in the private and public sector, reiterating that whilst both sectors might present divergent operational issues, there are some fundamental common challenges that require an environment that encourages transparency, openness and accountability – both are required to devise ways and means how to manage risk.

The Forum has set 5 strategic objectives which it intends achieving in the coming years.

• To bring together professionals to act as internal auditors.

• To promote, support and facilitate education about the profession and discipline of internal auditing.

• To promote professional practices of internal auditing.

• To encourage best practices in internal auditing.

• To create awareness of internal auditing within the local business and non business community.

• To help facilitate this process and consolidate its administrative setup the FORUM has recently entered into a collaboration agreement with the Malta International Training Centre (MITC).

Within this ambit and current initiatives taking place, the FORUM will, in the coming weeks, launch a membership campaign. All those interested to join or need further information are requested to contact MFIA Committee Secretary, Andre Farrugia on email: andrefarrugia@mit centre.com