Managing Public Sector Assets

May 9 – 10, 2023 Prishtina, Kosovo No Fee

Apr 9, 2023 Accounting and Financial Reporting, Auditing

English

The need to improve decisions concerning government-owned assets and to ensure relevant accountability to the public has led to reforms in several countries. However, the management of government-owned assets is still in its infancy compared to more traditional areas like public budgeting or public administration. Hence the striking mismatch between the many benefits that good asset management can generate and the limited attention it has so far received from most governments. A key task of Public Sector Asset Management (PSAM) is the establishment of an organizational system to manage government assets and to deploy them for the achievement of government objectives. In most countries, this task is further complicated by the presence of multiple central agencies and subnational governments which own or control large holdings of assets.

About this learning event

This workshop provides a platform for sharing knowledge, experience, best practices, and recommendations among public officials responsible for managing public sector asset portfolios and engaged in the development, execution, or supervision of state asset management (reform) activities, as well as public sector accountants and auditors, politicians (appointed officials), both regionally and globally. The event will also address change management towards a more managerially oriented approach to governance and asset management decision-making issues, with a particular focus on ensuring the quality and sustainability of public services.

Renowned international and regional experts will guide you through a selection of public sector assets topics, including: financial reporting aspects; recording of assets for identification, custodianship, and managerial (decision-making) purposes; information needs for public sector fixed asset management; asset performance management; and the impact of digitalization on accounting and accountability for entrusted resources. By reviewing selected country cases, we will discuss various efforts and solutions to resolve the issues related to fixed public sector assets. This event will be organized back-to-back with the international CEF-CIPFA conference on May 11, which will focus on digitalization in asset management process.

As CEF seeks to build on the lessons learned from the 2021 and 2022 conferences, this year's topics are geared towards all levels of public management and political structures.

The workshop will be delivered as part of the 2022-24 Efficient Public Sector Asset Management (EPSAM) Program. The Program’s goals are to improve awareness and knowledge of public asset management as an integral part of public sector reforms and to create a network of professionals who can become a driving force in this process, both within CEF’s constituency countries and beyond.

What will you learn

In this workshop, we will:

Discuss international and national regulatory and accounting frameworks/reporting standards, with specific reference to property assets (land, buildings), infrastructure assets, and heritage assets.
Highlight accounting challenges in terms of definition, identification, measurement, and disclosure of fixed public-sector assets.
Discuss issues concerning the recording of assets for identification, custodianship, and managerial (decision-making) purposes.
Discuss information needs for public sector asset management (what information is necessary to improve decision-making concerning fixed public-sector assets).
Outline selected countries’ efforts to tackle the issues of recording and reporting information on fixed public-sector assets.
Discuss asset performance management and changes needed to pursue a more managerially oriented approach to governance.
Highlight the role of digitalization in enhancing accountability for entrusted resources.

Format

The workshop will be delivered over two days, starting in the morning of 9 May 2023 and ending in the afternoon of 10 May 2023. It will encompass six 90-minute sessions. Five sessions will consist of experts’ presentations followed by in-session discussions. One session will be delivered in a round table format. Each session will involve up to two speakers. Participants are encouraged to participate actively by contributing to the debates and sharing country experiences.

Who should attend

The workshop targets public officials and experts responsible for managing public sector asset portfolios and engaged in the development, execution, or supervision of state asset management (reform) activities in their countries. More precisely, from CEF constituency countries, but also from countries facing similar challenges, our target audience includes:

Senior officials (policy makers) at the Ministry of Finance and other line ministries engaged in public-sector asset management.
Public sector managers and directors engaged in asset management processes, in developing and maintaining asset records, and in managing asset portfolios.
Public sector managers and directors engaged in the design and implementation of public sector accounting reforms.
Representatives of Supreme Audit Institutions.
Representatives of academia in the areas of public-sector management, accounting, and auditing.
Politicians with an interest in public sector asset management.

Practical Information

The workshop will be delivered face-to-face. The language of the workshop is English.

Applications must be submitted no later than March 31, 2023. Candidates will need to be approved by CEF. The number of participants is limited and admission is not guaranteed. Applications to attend the workshop will be reviewed after the registration period closes. No fee will be charged for attending the workshop and meals will be provided during the event. However, travel and accommodation costs will be covered only for a limited number of participants of the EPSAM project.

Faculty:

Gorana Roje, Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, Croatia; CEF Associate Fellow: Gorana has more than 15 years of experience in public sector accounting and public sector financial management. Her competencies are strategically located at the intersection between academia and top-level practice, and her work is focused on international and comparative public sector accounting and financial reporting, international public sector accounting standards setting and public sector financial management, with a particular emphasis on PSAM reforms domestically, regionally and worldwide.
Eugenio Anessi-Pessina, Full Professor, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy: Currently, Eugenio is full professor of Public Management at Università Cattolica. His work includes research, teaching, and expert support to public-sector institutions. He is also a senior fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Board established to develop IPSAS-based accounting standards for the Italian public sector.
Nives Botica Redmayne, Associate Professor, Massey University School of Accountancy, New Zealand: Nives contributes to the development of professional standards, guidance and policies for practicing auditors and accountants in New Zealand by informing regulators, based on her research and expertise in financial reporting and auditing. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and she is the CAANZ Vice President.
David Benetly, CIPFA, United Kingdom: David is a professionally qualified quantity surveyor with over 35 years of experience in the public and private sectors. He is Head of Asset Management within the CIPFA group with overall responsibility for construction, asset management and highways related networks.
Jelena Poljašević, Associate Professor at the Department of Accounting and Business Finance, Faculty of Economics, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jelena Poljašević is the chartered certified auditor and internal auditor in public sector in Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Since 2002, she has been engaged in the Professional Association of Accountants and Auditors of the Republic of Srpska to train accountants in public sector entities to implement accrual basis and IPSAS. As an expert, she contributed to the project Capacity building for the compilation of accounting data within the scope of General Government and public finance statistics financed by World Bank and cooperated with the Ministry of Finance of Republika Srpska in reforming financial reporting toward accrual basis.
Božo Vuletić-Antić, State Audit Office of Croatia: Božo is an Assistant State Auditor General for performance audit. From 2018 to 2019, he was a junior project leader in a twinning project “Further improvement of administrative capacities and external audit efficiency of the SAO in Macedonia”. In 2019 he was a short-term expert responsible for reviewing and updating the performance audit manual as part of a technical assistance project to SAO in Montenegro. In 2021-2022 he was also a short-term expert responsible for conducting the pilot performance audit “Improvement of external audit and parliamentary oversight.” Additionally, he was external auditor of EUROSAI for period 2014-2016, period 2017-2020, and 2021-2023.