Som Kimsour, the chairwoman of Cambodia’s National Audit Authority, was appointed to chair the ASEAN Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI), a collaborative body of public sector auditors, during a summit on Thursday in Phnom Penh, according to state media outlet AKP.

ASEANSAI was created in 2011 to exchange best practices among the ASEAN member states’ auditing authorities. Indonesia was the first chair, from 2011 to 2013. Future appointments will proceed in alphabetical order. Brunei held the previous chairmanship from 2013 to 2015, and Cambodia’s will last through 2017.

Preap Kol, the executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said it was a good opportunity for Cambodia’s NAA to strengthen its ability to apply international auditing standards and practices and live up to ASEAN member states’ expectations.

“The institution would be much better perceived if they publish audit reports on time and make the report publicly available and accessible,” said Kol. “It was a pity that, for the past few years, the NAA failed to do so, which raised a lot of questions.”

In May, Prime Minister Hun Sen scolded the NAA for being late in publicly releasing annual reports.

On March 29 the NAA released three reports on public finances for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. The March release brought the total number of reports released since the body’s creation to four.