The Workshop on Audit of Land and Mineral Resources was held from 12 – 14 July 2017 Hanoi, Vietnam and was attended by seven  ASEANSAI member countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines, a total of eighteen participants participated at the workshop. The purpose of this workshop is to increase knowledge of the exchange of ideas, audit experiences and best practices among ASEANSAI members in terms of auditing resources on land and mineral resources. The workshop was officially opened by Doan Xuan Tien, Deputy Auditor General Vietnam continued with the remarks from Blucer W. Rajagukguk, Expert in the Environmental Audit from The Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK) and Chiew Koh Chon, Director from Jabatan Audit Malaysia as the representative of Knowldge Sharing Committee.

The Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia as the Project Leader on Knowledge Sharing on Audit of Land and Mineral Resources Workshop presented three theme sessions: Research on topics of management and use of land; exploitation and utilization of mineral and natural resources; lesson learned from Performance Audit on Exploitation and utilization of mineral and natural resources.

Participating SAIs delivered presentations on each audit experience related to the workshop theme, some of the themes presented included the use of forest land for housing and industries without going through permits, non-compliance by mining companies in paying state revenue obligations, lack of regulation in the use of forest areas, etc. The workshop result can be concluded as follows:

1. The wealth of natural resources owned by countries in the ASEAN region must be utilized and used for the greatest prosperity of the people. SAI is very instrumental in ensuring that this wealth can be maintained by synergizing three pillars, namely: economic development, environmental sustainability and social inclusion;

2. The use of technology, especially GIS, can provide an overview of the misuse of forest areas and reclamation mismatches;

3. Encouraging the Government to establish rigid and detailed regulations regarding the use of natural resources and the use of forest areas;

4. Damage to land and environment can be quantified by a monetary value, SAI can play a role in providing an overview to the Government by conducting audits involving third parties who have certain expertise.