President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has issued a forceful call for continued investment in integrity, accountability, transparency, innovation and genuine partnership, declaring that these principles will determine whether future generations inherit resilient states, stronger democracies, healthier economies and more hopeful societies.
He made the remarks while addressing the closing session of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) Symposium and the opening of the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) Global Summit, held in Ukulhas, North Ari Atoll, an island recognised for its commitment to environmental sustainability.
“The Role of Audit Institutions Has Never Been More Important”
The President argued that true resilience is not accidental but built, founded on strong institutions, underpinned by responsible fiscal management, strengthened through transparency and sustained by public confidence in government. Against this backdrop, he said, the role of supreme audit institutions has never been more important.
In one of his sharpest lines, the President said every dollar entrusted by citizens and every dollar provided by development partners must achieve its intended purpose. Accountability, he insisted, is not merely an administrative obligation but a strategic national asset and an engine of progress, a formulation that reframed audit oversight as a driver of national growth rather than a bureaucratic checkbox.
The SIDS Balancing Act
Turning to the distinct pressures facing small island states, the President said many such countries are forced into a constant balancing act: investing in the future while managing debt, responding to emergencies while maintaining long-term stability, and protecting vulnerable communities while sustaining economic growth. He said that despite significant global economic uncertainty and external pressures, the Maldives has remained committed to honouring its financial obligations while continuing to invest in the nation’s future, positioning fiscal discipline as proof of the country’s broader commitment to accountability.
A Digital Governance Agenda for Island States
The President made a pointed case for digital transformation as a strategic lever for small island developing states, saying it offers an unprecedented opportunity to overcome structural constraints tied to geography, distance and limited capacity. He held up the Maldives 2.0 vision as the government’s commitment to building a modern, citizen-centred digital state, and was emphatic that technology should not be seen narrowly as an innovation agenda. Rather, he said, it is a governance, development and resilience agenda for SIDS.
Underscoring that commitment with concrete action, the President used the ceremony to launch the Strategic Plan 2026-2029 of the Auditor General’s Office of Maldives, a roadmap intended to strengthen public sector accountability, improve audit effectiveness, build professional capacity and guide the responsible management of public resources over the coming years.
The Setting: SIDS SAIs Symposium and the IDI Global Summit
The President’s address closed the SIDS SAIs Symposium, held from August 3 to 7 and organised by the Auditor General’s Office of Maldives in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), which brought together audit institutions from around 26 small island developing states to discuss SDG auditing, climate change oversight and digital audit systems. Its closing session doubled as the opening of the IDI Global Summit, hosted by the INTOSAI Development Initiative, the capacity-building arm of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the Vienna-based global body for national audit offices that this year marks the IDI’s 40th anniversary.
