1. The role of the international department of TurkStat
Fourteenth Meeting of the
Management Group on Statistical Cooperation March 2012, Luxembourg
Alper GÜCÜMENGİL
Head of Projects Group 1

2. Presentation in brief Background Information
Organization of the Department
Key Tasks
Role of Department during accession process
Conclusions/Remarks 2

3. Background Information
International relations has long tradition in TurkStat.
International relations policy is in line with the foreign policy priorities of government.
Bilateral cooperation with the other countries’ statistical offices constitutes an important portion of the relations.
Data demands from partner organizations; UN, OECD, EU; World Bank, SESRIC, BSEC, OIC, ECO 3

4. Organization of Foreign Relations Department 4

5. Organization of Foreign Relations Department
Projects Group: Preparation, implementation and coordination of projects financed by EU and other international organizations.
International Cooperation Group: Cooperation with international and regional organizations (except EU), bilateral relations with Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Caucasian, Balkan and African Countries.
EU Coordination Group: Coordination of the works concerning the “Statistics” chapter within the TurkStat and at the national and international organisations level as well.
Current tasks include coordination of multi-beneficiary programmes launched by Eurostat (IPA MBP 2009) and national programmes (USST Phase III). 5

6. Organization of Foreign Relations Department
Human Resources
TITLE
Number
Head of the Department 1
Expert (including 3 Heads of Group) 14
Statistician 2
Engineer
Economist
Data-Preparation Controlling Operator 3
Temporary Personnel 4
TOTAL 26

7. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
Implementation of EU Projects
Multi-Beneficiary Programmes:
Medstat II, PHARE 2005, MBP 2006, IPA MBP 2007, IPA MBP 2008 and IPA MBP 2009.
National Programmes:
USST Programme Phase I ( )
USST Programme Phase II ( )
USST Programme Phase III ( )

8. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
Coordination of Other International Projects
Small projects both in terms of coverage and budget;
UN, World Bank, IMF, EFTA and UN/ESCAP

9. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
EU Compliance Works
Following the studies to meet Closing Criteria of Chapter 18: Statistics in EU Negotiations Process
Coordination of the Light Peer Review Activity
Contribution of TurkStat in critical documents like Country Progress Reports; Accession Partnership Agreement; National Programme
Annual updating of the Statistical Management Information System (SMIS)
Participation in TAIEX activities

10. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
Technical Cooperation
Turkish International Cooperation Agency–TIKA activities
Cooperation activities with Caucasian Countries
Projects are run by dispatching TurkStat’s experts to these countries or through training programs/seminars held in Turkey
Bi-lateral cooperation
Financed from national budget and occasionally partner countries’ budget

11. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
Technical Cooperation
Relations with official international organisations
UN Statistics Division (Statistical Commission and subject-related working bodies)
Economic Commission for Europe (Conference of European Statisticians (CES) and subject-related working bodies)
OECD (Statistics Directorate and subject-related working bodies)
IMF, ILO, WHO, UNESCO, WTO etc.
non-official international organisations (International Statistical Institute-ISI)

12. Key Tasks of Foreign Relations Department
Technical Cooperation
Relations with regional statistical organizations
Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)
Statistical Directorate of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)

13. Role of Foreign Relations Department during accession process
Foreign Relations Department (FRD) deals with the accession process in “Statistics” chapter within TurkStat.
Negotiations; The role of FRD in the negotiation process is ensuring the coordination among technical departments of TurkStat and other statistical providers as well.
One of the roles of FRD is monitoring the progress made within the context of the closing benchmarks.

14. Role of Foreign Relations Department during accession process
Progress reports: FRD ensures the coordination of the activities regarding the Progress Reports, published by the European Commission annually.
The contributions of TurkStat in “administrative capacity”, “legislative amendments”, “progress in statistical sectors” and “updated economic data list” are sent to Ministry of EU Affairs .
Statistical Management Information System (SMIS+):
The studies are carried out within the coordination of FRD.
FRD coordinates the studies regarding the EU-Turkey Sub-Committees

15. Role of Foreign Relations Department during accession process
Projects; FRD is responsible for application, implementation, financial management, coordination, monitoring and reporting of statistical projects those aim to harmonize with EU Acquis.
IPA Multi Beneficiary Programmes and National Programmes
preparation of project proposals
preparation of grant applications
managing the tender processes
coordination of consultancy and data collection activities
monitoring of the projects
financial management of grants
organisation of local and international training activities
organisation of participation to Eurostat meetings and traineeship programmes etc.

16. Conclusion/Remarks
International cooperation policy of a statistical office should be in line with the foreign policy of the government
International relations department acts as a focal point to reflect government’s intentions to other departments and also the Statistical System as a whole
International relations department: a bridge between national stakeholders and international organizations
The coordination function of the office is also crucial to avoid duplications of funding from several donors.

17. Conclusion/Remarks
Regarding EU accession process, while technical departments deal with studies in order to be compliant with the EU Acquis, FRD should ensure the coordination among themselves, other stakeholders and EU bodies.
TurkStat’s double role:
not only at adopting the best practices from other countries
but also sharing that of her own.
Technical assistance is provided to the other countries for their capacity building efforts.

18. Conclusion/Remarks
Statistical Offices should establish a Policy on international cooperation.
The policy should cover:
aims of international relations,
what kind of activities to be involved in,
which international organizations, regions and countries to cooperate with,
the funding opportunities,
tools for dissemination of activity results within the office and country.
Mandate for international departments.
Core functions of statistical offices: national accounts, social statistics, business statistics, agricultural statistics etc.
Strategic planning, human resources, international relations are side functions
Attitude of technical departments towards international cooperation works
International Cooperation = An expertise area?
Procedural and legal differences between the national and international practices
Eurostat rules, UN and EU procedures differ from and occasionally conflict with national dealings
Financial management of the grants: international relations staff are not accountants
Contribution of other data provider organizations in cooperation activities
Statistical Office can not intervene who will participate from these organizations

19. Conclusion/Remarks
Key issue: to strengthen the flow of information both inside and outside the organization.

20. Thank you… 20