The IV High Level Working Group of the Parliamentary Budgetary Committees of the PALOP and Timor-Leste, meeting in Maputo from 29 to 31 August 2022, recognized that there are still common challenges in terms of technical and human capacity to ensure an effective oversight of the use of public resources and, in particular, of specific funds such as sovereign wealth funds.
In a Declaration issued at the end of the meeting, participants also recognized the need to continue to exchange experiences among peers on a regular basis for capacity building and access to good practices in the areas of fiscal legislative oversight, including sovereign wealth funds, and highlighted the need to continue to strengthen capacities around themes and improve fiscal and sovereign fund legislative oversight tools.
They also noted the existence of an institutional weakness with regard to the ability to control and supervise public resources, particularly existing and functioning sovereign wealth funds. In light of these findings, participants reached a number of conclusions and made recommendations that are set out in the Declaration.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, the UNDP Resident Representative in Mozambique, Narjess Seidane, said she hoped that the discussions would help Mozambique to establish its sovereign wealth fund and called attention to the inclusion of the gender issue.
On the other hand, she appealed to Pro PALOP-TL to dedicate the last months of the project to analyzing how to systematize exchanges between peers and training in the areas addressed during the meeting.
The Vice-President of the Plan and Budget Committee (CPO) of the Assembly of the Republic (AR), Cernilde Muchanga, in turn, thanked the participants for their valuable contributions with a view to strengthening the technical capacities “of our working committees.”
“During these three days of work, it became very clear that parliamentary and legislative oversight is one of the noblest and most visible functions of the democratic process, since the parliament represents the electorate in holding the Government accountable through the oversight function.”, She underlined.
She indicated that the various contributions on the sovereign wealth fund presented during the meeting “will serve as a tool for improving the regulatory framework of our countries and, in the case of Mozambique, will feed the appreciation and debate of the Draft Law that creates the Sovereign Fund”. which will define the guidelines for the management of revenues from petroleum resources and, in the future, from other resources.”
The meeting that ended today aimed to:
- Promote the exchange of experiences and learning among peers involving the Parliamentary Budgetary Committees of the PALOP and Timor-Leste (including Brazil and Portugal) and access to best practices in the field of budgetary legislative oversight;
- Familiarize parliamentarians and staff of PALOP-TL National Parliaments, in a context of south-south and triangular cooperation, with the challenges and opportunities for effective legislative oversight of sovereign wealth funds and the flow of capital they generate.
The meeting was organized by the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique in partnership with UNDP/Pro PALOP-TL ISC Phase II.
