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The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Organisation
for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD),
and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), jointly organized
an inception workshop as an initial activity
of the ADB's Regional Technical Assistance (RETA)
covering developing countries in the region.
The main objective of the RETA was to strengthen
the capability of selected countries in harmonizing
and improving their existing BTS and in analyzing
their results. Specifically the RETA assisted
countries to develop and conduct, on a pilot
basis, improved and harmonized surveys and to
use the BTS results for effective monitoring
and analyzing short-term economic developments.
In keeping with these objectives, the Workshop
aimed to help these countries improve the design,
execution and comparability of their surveys,
extend the coverage to finance and insurance,
trade, tourism and business services, and improve
the capability to correctly analyze and interpret
the survey results for short-term monitoring
and forecasting. Furthermore, participants
discussed and shared experiences on the progress
of the harmonization of BTS as per the conclusions
of the first workshop, problems and issues concerning
the adaptation of standard BTS to the needs
of countries in the Asia Pacific region.
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