Asean To Revamp And Integrate Data Management

Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Asean is set to improve and integrate its statistical data to help sharpen policy-making and planning, as well as to boost development in the region under a new Asean Community Statistical System (ACSS) Committee. The new Committee is composed of the Chiefs Statistician/Heads of National Statistical Offices in Asean. This week the Committee met for the first time marking an important milestone on the path to increasing regional cooperation across Asean, the Asean Secretariat said in a statement here, Friday. Indonesian State Minister for National Development Planning Prof Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said the initiative would help the region to see more accurate and reliable figures and better quality statistical data concerning the trade in goods, trade in services, foreign direct investment and other key sectors of development. “It will sharpen the decision-making process for governments, businesses, academics, civil society groups, the media, and the public, and help in making more precise projections, measurements, targets and achievements towards fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals,” she said at the launch today. Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community Sundram Pushpanathan said with the launch of the new committee, Asean is on the right track to establishing the ACSS by 2015, a commitment Asean leaders made back in October 2010 through the Asean Framework of Cooperation in Statistics 2010-2015. In a globalised world, he said regional cooperation is crucial for promoting growth and stability, and statistical information helps in the planning and policy-making in such important areas as trade and investment. “There is no doubt that a strengthened regional capacity in statistics will help achieve our regional integration objectives,” he said. -- BERNAMA