(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles and India have signed an agreement for better training opportunities and information sharing between the Auditor General's Offices of the two countries.

The agreement was signed on Monday by the Seychelles' Auditor General, Gamini Herath, and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Chandra Murmu.

The agreement will provide the two institutions with a collaboration platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience amongst auditing professionals to develop the capacity for carrying out audits

Speaking to those attending the event, Herath stated that it was his "sincere hope that the MoU we are signing today will pave the way for better training opportunities, information sharing, exchange of fruitful ideas and sharing resources between our two SAIs (supreme audit institutions)."

The two entities have been working together for over 40 years and over 50 auditors from Seychelles have been trained through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme (ITEC).

Herath added that many of those trained have shared their expertise in both the public and private sectors.

Furthermore, Murmu stressed the importance of audit institutions and their adherence to international standards.

Both countries are members of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) as well as the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

Chandra, who has been on an official visit to the small island state, also met the Speaker of the National Assembly, Roger Mancienne, and the head of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) in the National Assembly, Sebastien Pillay, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the institution.