Indonesia. 1 Paper presented in the PARIS21 High-Level Forum on National Strategic Planning in Statistics for

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1 ASEAN Secretariat Views on the Formulation of National Strategies for the Development of Statistics in Southeast Asia 1 Agus Sutanto 2 and John Frederick de Guia 3 Introduction 1. This paper provides a brief on some thrusts, recent and ongoing initiatives, key challenges, and future directions in regional cooperation in the development of statistics in the ASEAN region. The purpose of this paper is not to present a list of data requirements from the ASEAN Secretariat, but rather to give an update of where ASEAN regional cooperation on statistics is at this stage, and to make a proposition for different perspective of the need to strengthen further this cooperation, through the national strategies for the development of statistics of the ASEAN member countries (AMCs). 2. This new perspective emanates from a vision that the ASEAN has recently defined that of building an ASEAN Community by From the modest intention of a few countries to forge closer relations almost 4 decades ago, the ASEAN has indicated its readiness to progressively move from regional cooperation towards regional integration. This vision is embodied in the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) (an update to the Hanoi Action Plan), that was ratified by the AMCs in 2004, and which is meant to step up the process of economic, socio-cultural and political integration. 3. The VAP has in many ways changed the philosophy and direction of regional cooperation efforts in ASEAN, from merely establishing relations for better understanding and discussing issues on certain common interests, to more closely working together toward greater economic integration, swifter poverty eradication and human development, long-term region-wide security and political stability, and commitment to narrowing development gaps among AMCs, which now outline the medium-term thrusts and directions for ASEAN. Some recent initiatives 4. The existing ASEAN cooperation on statistics was spawned by a common desire among the national statistical offices (NSOs) to get together and share data, good practices, experiences, and technology. It is in this context that the ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting (AHSOM) was formed in August AHSOM, which will hold its 7 th session this year, has since become a regular venue for discussing issues and formulating strategies and directions in the development of ASEAN statistics, and has effectively, served as a de facto hub of a network of national statistical institutions and to some extent, systems, in the region. 5. The lack of a concrete legal stature in the ASEAN organization has not deterred the AHSOM into forging a Framework for Cooperation on Statistics and its attendant Plan of Action on Statistics, which the heads of the NSOs agreed to in 2001 in its 3 rd session in Kula Lumpur. This cooperation has quickly thrust ASEAN statistics into a regional agenda and the ASEAN NSOs, collectively, into the international statistical 1 Paper presented in the PARIS21 High-Level Forum on National Strategic Planning in Statistics for South-East Asian Countries. 6-8 June UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand. 2 Head of Statistics Unit, ASEAN Secretariat. Jakarta, Indonesia. 3 Attachment Officer under the ASEAN-EU Program for Regional Integration, ASEAN Secretariat. Jakarta, Indonesia.

2 community, which have proved instrumental in drawing some significant collaboration on statistical capacity building in ASEAN with the major international statistical institutions like the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), UNESCAP Statistics Division, and Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP). It has also paved the way for technical cooperation with such institutions as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Australian Bureau of Statistics, European Union/Community (EU/EC)- Eurostat, among a few. 6. A recommendation has recently been raised to enhance this mechanism for statistics cooperation in the ASEAN process. The recommendation specifically seeks to ensure policy direction and support to statistics initiatives from the appropriate regional policy body/ies. 7. Within the purview of the above framework and plan of action, the ASEAN Secretariat, mostly in consultation with NSOs, initiated statistical development activities that are designed to address the essential objective of generating and sharing harmonized statistics for regional planning, policy analysis, and program implementation. 7.1 Harmonization of statistical classifications. As statistical classifications are considered among the basic requisites in the systematic generation of harmonized data, a technical cooperation in developing common classification systems was formed, paving the way for the creation of ASEAN Task Force on Harmonization of Statistical Classifications (TFSC) in A project that aims to recommend an ASEAN Common Industrial Classification (ACIC) based on the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Rev 4 is now underway with the TFSC leading its implementation. The project is under the auspices of the ASEAN-EU Program for Regional Integration Support (APRIS). 7.2 Groundwork for harmonization of international merchandise trade statistics and statistics on international trade in services. Through the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program (AADCP), some preparatory activities are being undertaken to study and recommend solutions to problems in international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS) and statistics of international trade in services (SITS). Country and regional consultations have been conducted and are planned to be continued within the year with the objective of coming up with regional and national work plans for the improvement of ITS and SITS. 7.3 Harmonization of industrial and commercial statistics. The development and harmonization of industrial and commercial statistics are being covered by the continuing cooperation between ASEAN and Japan through the AMEICC Working Group on Industrial and Commercial Statistics, which is holding its fifth meeting in Phnom Penh this year. Initiatives under this partnership have led to better understanding of the current situation in industrial statistical system and to greater comparability of industrial statistics in the ASEAN. 7.4 Data support in the preparation of the ASEAN Baseline Report, The ASEAN Secretariat, through a consultancy project under the ASEAN-UNDP Partnership Facility (AUPF), is now in the final stages of completion of the ASEAN Baseline Report (ABR). The ABR is meant to provide baseline information and assessment of state of ASEAN with respect to the goals and targets under the VAP. The support of the AHSOM and NSOs has been recognized as a key factor in the development of a system of indicators and compilation of a large set of data necessary in the preparation of the report. PARIS21 High-Level Forum on NSDS for Southeast Asia. 6-8 June UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand 2

3 7.5 Other statistical developments. Many of previous and ongoing statistical cooperation activities have emanated from the AHSOM, which analyzes and anticipates, and addresses, as far as current resources and capacities allow, data needs of regional integration initiatives, such as the VAP and other international concerns. In certain integration areas as investments, industry, and trade, statistics cooperation is initiated and mandated by the concerned ASEAN bodies, and is implemented as a support activity by those bodies, e.g., IMTS, or by working groups on statistics such as those on foreign direct investment statistics (FDIS) and industrial and commercial statistics. Challenges 8. While significant gains have been achieved from existing cooperation activities, there remain basic statistical issues that have only been magnified as the ASEAN intensifies the process of regional integration. Availability, accessibility, and timeliness of data are still wanting, especially those that are produced by institutions other than the NSOs. Complete data or not, issues on reliability, comparability and consistency of data among countries continue to face regional policy analysts and formulators. National statistical coordination is deemed generally weak in many of the AMCs that collection of data by the ASEAN Secretariat remains difficult and fragmented. 9. There have also been suggestions from national statisticians of the lack of clear definition and poor communication of critical regional data needs, as well as inadequate policy direction and support to statistical initiatives from the policy institutions/bodies at the regional and national levels that may have led to the stillpresent problems with data availability and accessibility. Many of the previous and current statistical initiatives emanate from the AHSOM with little guidance or support from ASEAN regional policy making bodies, such as the ministerial meetings/committees, and the concerned national representative institutions. 10. As the regional integration process proceeds through the VAP, demand for statistics is expected to increase further, a challenge that might understandably prove difficult even to developed statistical systems but which need to be addressed nonetheless. And as the need to monitor progress increasingly resonates, data users --- regional planners, policy analysts, and decision makers, which are really the AMCs themselves who comprise the various ASEAN bodies, will turn to nowhere but the national statistical systems. Some measures to address challenges 11. Building on and drawing from the experiences and gains from previous and current cooperation agreements and initiatives, the ASEAN Secretariat in consultation with stakeholders and with guidance from the AHSOM, will continue to formulate strategies and pursue programs to address basic data issues, respond to emerging data needs, and contribute to enhancing statistical capacities of both data providers and users EC-ASEAN Statistical Capacity Building Programme. Within the ambit of an existing EC-ASEAN institutional development cooperation agreement, this program will focus on the improvement of key statistics needed in key strategic areas of the VAP, namely, IMTS, SITS, FDIS, and to some extent, non-observed economy, health, and education statistics. A basic principle in the design of the programme is that recommended solutions should primarily address information needs identified from a regional integration perspective and build national capacities along these areas. Another guiding principle is that programs and activities should be able to resolve problems with and build upon the groundwork PARIS21 High-Level Forum on NSDS for Southeast Asia. 6-8 June UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand 3

4 of previous efforts and/or complement existing, relevant initiatives, such as those on harmonization of statistical classifications, harmonization and improvement of IMTS, SITS, and FDIS. This approach is being adopted to minimize duplication of efforts thus optimizing resources and promoting international cooperation and technology sharing among partner institutions ASEAN Baseline Situation and Evidenced-based Monitoring System for Measuring Progress Towards an ASEAN Community. Building on the analytical framework and proposed system of indicators in the ABR, a project is now under negotiation to establish an evidence-based monitoring system for measuring progress towards the ASEAN Community. Specifically, the project aims to firm up the proposed measurement indicators and update the data and analysis of the baseline situation in the ABR Preliminary Study leading to the development of an evidence-based monitoring system. Activities include advocacy among and training of users in the policy areas and concerned ASEAN bodies to promote acceptance and use of the monitoring system and provide the mandate for the generation and sharing of needed statistics Expansion of the ASEAN Statistical Indicators. The ASEAN Statistical Indicators (ASI), currently comprised of 27 key indicators, represent a minimum or core set of indicators that AHSOM has committed/agreed to provide and share for use in ASEAN development cooperation programs. With the various issues identified in the preparation of the ABR and its accompanying proposed system of indicators, the ASI will be revisited and updated to provide an enhanced framework for statistics provision and sharing in the region that will support the proposed ASEAN Community evidenced-based monitoring system Web-enabled statistical database in support of evidenced-based VAP monitoring system. Under a grant from the AUPF, the ASEAN Secretariat has embarked on the development of a web-enabled database, initially to manage the large data holdings generated from the preparation of the ABR, and eventually to serve as a dynamic, objective tool for tracking progress of the VAP implementation with respect to the baseline situation. With sustained, adequate support from the AMCs, the system could evolve into a central repository and access to all ASEAN statistics Strengthening the AHSOM and integrated regional statistics development. Consistent with the vision of an ASEAN Community, the ASEAN Secretariat is looking towards more wholistic and integrated regional planning of statistics development and cooperation. This will entail progressive expansion of existing cooperation and strengthening of current regional statistical mechanisms, including the AHSOM, to be able to provide adequate and more effective statistical support to the overall integration process. NSDS: Improving ASEAN statistics in support of the ASEAN Community 12. The regional integration process might have already begun pushing back national boundaries as countries embrace the wider, virtual frontier of the envisioned ASEAN Community. As ASEAN economies, cultures and institutions become more and more integrated into this community, so must the national statistical systems if statistics is to keep its relevance and contribute to attaining the vision. AMCs, to a growing extent and pace, have been reshaping their national development plans and governance systems along this direction. The ASEAN Secretariat is of the view that statistical systems need to follow the same path. PARIS21 High-Level Forum on NSDS for Southeast Asia. 6-8 June UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand 4

5 13. The ASEAN Secretariat thus strongly supports initiatives to formulate the NSDS, especially in Southeast Asia, as it will enable more focused and accelerated national statistical development, thereby contributing to the improvement of ASEAN statistics. While the ASEAN Secretariat due to organizational limitations may not be able to provide direct technical assistance to AMCs, it shall continue to work toward strengthen existing technical cooperation and seek new partnerships with key international organizations to help sustain statistical capacity building in the ASEAN region. 14. The ASEAN Secretariat understands that the NSDS must basically address national development issues and concerns, and that countries are also encouraged to respond to, and therefore may consider the data needs of the international community. Traditionally, ASEAN concerns fall under this latter category. With the vision of an ASEAN Community however, a break with tradition is deemed timely and necessary, as AMCs are now in a peculiar situation where regional priorities may need to be considered as national priorities. The ASEAN Secretariat proposes that the formulation of the NSDS be viewed from and directed under the same perspective. --- end --- PARIS21 High-Level Forum on NSDS for Southeast Asia. 6-8 June UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand 5