Francisco Javier Garcia (internal auditor, doctoral student at University of Salamanca) attended the last day of the summer course “Public-private Collaboration: Challenges for the Economic-Financial Professional and the Public Sector”. He presented the presentation “Most relevant aspects of contracting privatized auditing services in public sector”.
The auditor stated that the “economy” is a merging of the private and public worlds. This is because global quality standards are being adopted and each must take advantage of what strengths they have. While public administrations may have different requirements than the private sector, there are still mutual benefits.
Francisco Javier Garcia stated that the public sector offers a nuance in service, while the private sector pursues specific objectives. The objectives in the public sector are not as important as the means. We must follow the law and satisfy the general interests in the best way. We cannot guarantee everything for every company.
These differences are becoming less apparent. There is still much to be done. Although the understanding of economic treatment has varied between the public administration’s and private sector, it is clear that both have had greater control over the other. Some because the money they manage comes from public funds and must be protected to the end. Others because efficiency is what is being sought. They always meet at this point, though it is clear that there is much more to do. He said that there is a lot more ignorance than the private sector and it is difficult to approach the public sector.
Rebeca Gomez (director of the course), concluded that “we have to take on greater responsibility and exceed the transparency thresholds that are already set out by regulations and control bodies.”