On behalf of the members of the Association of Pacific Islands Public Auditors, and as chairman of the eighteenth annual APIPA conference, it is my pleasure to welcome you to apipa2007.org. The Office of the Territorial Auditor is pleased to host this year's APIPA conference in American Samoa during the week of August 13 - 17, 2007. We invite everyone to come to American Samoa early and plan to stay afterwards to enjoy the beauty of our island and the warmth of our people.
Given the many miles between American Samoa and Micronesia we do not expect that this year's APIPA conference will attract as many participants as the last few APIPA conferences on Majuro, Palau, and Pohnpei. Rest assured that although not as many participants are expected to attend we will do everything possible to make the conference a rewarding experience for all that do make the long journey to Tutuila. In addition to off island participants we are expecting that a sizable number of American Samoa residents will attend this year's conference. We have been working hard to design a dynamic program for APIPA 2007 to support the ongoing education that has become an integral part of our professions. With first-class instructors and a wide range of financial and auditing courses planned, I am confident that each participant will find great value in their time on American Samoa, and will return home energized and ready to support their respective institutions and agencies.
We are particularly pleased with the three instructors who will be delivering training at this year's conference, all of whom will be making their first trip to American Samoa. APIPA welcomes back Jeanne Yamamura to her third consecutive APIPA conference. Jeanne's courses have always been well received and we are pleased she was able to join us again this year. APIPA also welcomes first time instructors Roland Malan and Mary Beth Souza. Roland enjoyed a distinguished audit career and even in retirement remains a leading authority in the areas of performance based management, performance auditing, investigative management and general management issues. Mary Beth has over 10 years of audit experience, performing external audits, internal audits, and public/governmental audits. As team leader for various financial, operational, performance, and IT audits, Mary Beth developed and demonstrated both technical and leadership skills that will be apparent in the sessions she delivers during the conference.
Finally, I'd like to express my appreciation to the United States Department of Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, and the Graduate School, USDA's Pacific and Virgin Islands Training Initiatives, for their ongoing support of APIPA and our annual conferences.
With that, I invite you to explore the resources on this website and encourage you to join us in American Samoa for the eighteenth annual APIPA conference.
