1. Developing a regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific
Artur Andrysiak
Statistics Development and Analysis Section
ESCAP 1

2. Overview Background Current situation ESCAP initiative
Technical Advisory Group
Assessment

3. Background
The economic statistics have not received a lot of attention in the Asia-Pacific region, the main focus has been on the MDGs
Many developing countries in the region lack the capacity to produce and disseminate basic financial and economic data required for compiling of a minimum set of national accounts and short-term economic indicators
Most developing Asia-Pacific countries have still not been able to fully implement 1993 SNA

4. Background
The current global economic crisis further highlighting the need for high quality and comparable financial and economic statistics
Adoption by United Nations Statistical Commission of volumes 1 and 2 of the System of National Accounts 2008
The release of the SNA 2008 and other economic frameworks and standards presents an opportunity to focus again on economic statistics

5. Current situation
Many Asian and Pacific countries are still not in a position to comply with the minimum requirement of the 1993 SNA
< 1/3 of countries produce all 7 tables of the minimum requirement dataset (MRDS) and < ½ produce 6 tables
Proportions are lower for low-income countries, South-East Asia, Pacific
This compares unfavourably with the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean

7. Committee on Statistics, 2009
The Committee on Statistics at its first session considered the proposal contained in the document “Towards an action plan for the development of economic statistics in the Asian and Pacific region”. Consequently, the Committee on Statistics decided to:
(a) Adopt a coordinating governance structure that shall guide the development, implementation and monitoring of an action plan for the development of economic statistics in the Asian and Pacific region, as proposed in E/ESCAP/CST/5, para. 52;
(b) Establish a technical advisory group to provide guidance to its Bureau and the ESCAP secretariat on the development and periodic revision of a regional programme for the development of economic statistics……

8. ESCAP initiative
Development of the regional action plan for improving economic statistics, which aims to increase the national capacity, particularly among the least developed countries and small island developing states, to produce basic economic statistics in accordance with international standards and good practices

9. Project details
Developing a regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific
Until the end of 2009
SD and SIAP in cooperation with other IO

10. Strategy
Conduct a comprehensive region-wide assessment of the capacity of national statistical systems to produce basic economic statistics and needs for support in this regard;
Formulate a minimum core set of economic statistics that each country in the region would be in a position to produce, taking into account the varying needs of countries and work on the development of economic statistics undertaken by specialized bodies and related organizations in the region;
On the basis of the assessment and minimum core set of statistics:
Formulate a regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics in the region.
Provide the specifications of regional requirements for manuals, implementation guidelines and standardized training materials and learning modes for the global implementation strategy of the 2008 SNA to be designed by the ISWGNA

11. Main Activities
Conduct a region-wide assessment of the capacity of national statistical systems to produce basic economic statistics and needs for support in this regard
Establish a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to provide guidance to the secretariat on methodological issues related to the development and periodic revision of a regional action plan for the development of economic statistics
Convene a consultation meeting of the TAG, members of the Bureau of the Committee on Statistics and representatives from selected regional and sub-regional partners to formulate a minimum core set of economic statistics that each country in the region would be in a position to produce

12. Main Activities
Organize — in close collaboration with SIAP — a workshop for senior economic statisticians from national statistical offices and other agencies involved in the production of economic statistics, to review the assessment of national capacities to produce basic economic statistics and specific needs for support, as well as the proposed minimum core set of economic statistics, and to formulate the draft regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics
Develop a knowledge-sharing website to disseminate information on country assessments and other technical materials

13. What we have achieved so far
Objective
Current status
Still to do
Project proposal
Completed, Funding secured _
Technical Advisory Group
TORs approved by the Bureau
Invitations to countries on 14/07
Assessment of the countries capacity
Ver. 1 of Assessment Framework completed
Most data obtained
Assessment to be completed by the end of October
Establishing a network with other IO
UNECE, UNSD, SIAP, ADB, ECO
IMF, ASEAN, SPC, WB, other
Raising awareness of the initiative
ECO Countries
Other forums
Senior consultant/advisor
TORs, P104a, Possible candidates identified
Employ asap

14. Plan for the rest of the year
Develop a regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific
Conduct a region-wide assessment by end of October
Establish a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) by the end of September
Convene a consultation meeting of the TAG, members of the Bureau and representatives from selected regional and sub-regional partners to formulate a minimum core set of economic statistics
Organize — in close collaboration with SIAP — a workshop for senior economic statisticians from national statistical offices
Develop a knowledge-sharing website to disseminate information on country assessments and other technical materials

15. Technical Advisory Group
Provide guidance to its Bureau and the ESCAP secretariat on methodological issues related to the development and periodic revision of a regional programme (action plan) for the development of economic statistics.
Formulate a minimum core set of economic statistics that each member and associate member in the Asian and Pacific region would be in a position to produce, taking into account the varying country needs and work on the development of economic statistics undertaken by specialized bodies and related organizations in the region.

16. Technical Advisory Group
Provide advice on:
Developing an assessment framework of country capacities to produce economic statistics;
Conducting an assessment of country capacities to produce economic statistics;
Producing a report on the assessment of country capacities to produce economic statistics;
Identifying commonalities of issues related to the economic statistics in the region and providing advice on the best strategy and measure for addressing them, including technical cooperation;
How to link up the ESCAP secretariat’s activities with the 2008 SNA global implementation strategy;
The possibility of an international manual on the minimum core set of economic indicators.

17. Technical Advisory Group
Made up of no more than 6 national experts as well as experts from the ESCAP secretariat and other international regional and subregional organizations.
The final decision on the composition of the TAG will be made by the ESCAP secretariat in consultation with the Bureau.
The Bureau is propositioning the following selection criteria for national experts:
Excellent knowledge of official statistics and national statistical systems
Extensive experience at the senior management level in the area of economic statistics
Good understanding of issues related to economic statistics in the Asia and the Pacific region
Ability to communicate well in English

18. Assessment Objective:
Produce a comprehensive assessment of the current state of basic economic statistics in ESCAP region, identify problem areas and specific needs.
Strategy:
Complete the assessment by sourcing the information from other international regional and subregional organizations and where necessary, from national websites and other sources. National organizations will only be contacted where it is not possible to source the information from elsewhere.
The preliminary results of the assessment for each country will be sent to the relevant NSOs to give the countries the opportunity to review and validate the results.

19. Assessment
The results of the assessment will be used to produce the following outputs:
Provide the basis for the development of a regional action plan for the improvement of economic statistics in Asia and the Pacific;
Produce a report on the capacity of national statistical systems in the ESCAP region to produce basic economic statistics and needs for support in this regard;
Provide the basis for the formulation of a minimum core set of economic statistics that each country in the region would be in a position to produce;

20. Assessment The expected outcomes of the assessment are:
Provide the Committee on Statistics, its Bureau, the secretariat and other parties with a comprehensive assessment of the current state of economic statistics in the ESCAP region;
Develop a long-term strategy for an improvement of economic statistics in the ESCAP region, including capacity building, as well as addressing national statistical systems’ staff and resources constrains;
Input to the global implementation strategy of the 2008 System of National Accounts by Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts;
Raise the awareness among the statisticians and the policymakers of the importance of economic statistics and the need for increased funding for the national statistical systems.
Permit countries to compare their economic statistics capacities with other countries in the ESCAP region.

21. Assessment - progress

22. Long-term objectives of the Regional Action Plan
Need to address the fundamental constrains affecting the development of economic statistics in the Asia and the Pacific region:
Lack of qualified staff
Lack of available data sources
Theses constrains reflect:
insufficient financial resources allocated to the collection and compilation of basic economic statistics;
defects in national legal and institutional frameworks that hamper coordination among data source agencies; and
the low priority accorded by decision makers to the availability of key economic indicators

23. Success will depend
The success of the initiative will depend on close collaboration with national statistical offices and other agencies involved in the production of economic statistics; subregional partners such as the ASEAN, SPC, ECO; regional partners such as the ADB; and global partners such as the UNSD, IMF, World Bank, and ISWGNA.

24. References and useful links
Committee on Statistics, First session
Towards an action plan for the development of economic statistics in the Asian and Pacific region
Documents for the fortieth session of the Statistical Commission

25. Regional advisory services
The Statistics Division of ESCAP offers regional advisory services on statistics
Mr. Jan Smit
Regional Adviser on Statistics

26. Suggestions?
Questions?
Thank you