UP and NAU established a formal exchange programme in 2009 and has since then exchanged students and lecturers on an annual basis. The formal agreement signed between the two universities led to a highly successful, sustainable and dynamic working relationship. In March 2011, Prof Chen Danping, Vice-Dean and coordinator of the internal auditing programme at NAU, visited UP to present guest lectures on Economic Accountability Audits in China to internal auditing students, lecturers and practitioners. In July 2011, two students from NAU, Liu Cheng and Wang Yuchen, joined UP for six months and enrolled for two undergraduate courses in internal auditing and one course in business management.

In October 2011, Kato Plant presented four three-hour lectures to NAU internal auditing students, focusing on the integration of internal auditing theory and its practical application; whereas Philna Coetzee presented a lecture on risk-based internal auditing.

Philna and Kato also visited the IIA (China) in Beijing and met with Mr Lu Yunfei, the Vice-Secretary General of the IIA (China). The purpose of the meeting was to inform the IIA (China) of the UP and NAU exchange programme activities as well as to share information on the IIA (SA) activities. Mr Lu Yunfei expressed a keen interest to work more closely with the IIA (SA) as well as UP, in the areas of internal audit education, training and research and specifically the proposed master’s degree programme in internal auditing to be launched by UP in 2013.

Left to right: Greg Plant, Philna and Stephan Coetzee at the Forbidden City in Beijing.