Tenth
session of the Working Group of Statistical Experts
The tenth session of the Working Group of
Statistical Experts, organized by the secretariat
of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP), was held in Bangkok
from 11 to 14 November 1997.
It was attended by representatives of the
following 25 members and associate members of
ESCAP: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; China;
Fiji; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Iran
(Islamic Republic of); Japan; Macau; Malaysia;
Maldives; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; New Caledonia;
New Zealand; Pakistan; Philippines; Republic
of Korea; Russian Federation; Singapore; Thailand;
United States of America; and Viet Nam.
The meeting was also attended by representatives
of the following United Nations bodies, specialized
agencies and other organizatins: United Nations
Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), United
Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Development
Fund for Women, United Nations Population Fund,
International Labour Organization, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, International Monetary Fund and
United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
Asian Development Bank and Commonwealth of Independent
States.
The Statistical Institute for Asia and the
Pacific was also represented. The meeting was
opened by the Deputy Executive Secretary and
Officer-in-Charge, a.i. of ESCAP, who said she
was impressed by the strong representation from
the countries and the presence of several international
and regional agencies. She thanked the governments
and agencies for their support of the Committee
on Statistics, under the guidance of which the
Working Group provided important inputs to the
process of statistical development in the region
and an opportunity to discuss a broad range
of issues.
The agenda of the Working Group included discussions
of data dissemination standards, 1993 System
of National Accounts, population and housing
censuses, gender statistics, prices, and the
year 2000 problem, and a report on the activities
of the bureau of the tenth session of the Committee
on Statistics.
The bureau officiated at the meeting of the
Working Group -- Mr Frederick W.H. Ho (Hong
Kong, China) served as chairperson, Mr Timoci
Bainimarama (Fiji), Mr M.D. Asthana (India),
Ms Ch. Davaasuren (Mongolia) and Ms Alice Goh
(Singapore) as vice-chairpersons, and Mr Romulo
Virola (Philippines) as rapporteur.
The Working Group was informed of the activities
of the bureau. During 1997 the bureau met formally
only once, but its members had taken advantage
of other statistical meetings to exchange views
and had also been in correspondence with each
other and the secretariat. These activities
had been helpful in promoting the development
of statistics in the region and projecting a
more proactive stance for Asia and the Pacific
onto the global scene. The Working Group concurred
with the bureau's view that the Committee on
Statistics should concentrate on strategic issues,
while the Working Group could take on a broad
range of subjects. The crystallization of ideas
and identification of issues by the Working
Group could generate material for the Committee
on Statistics in its decision-making or other
strategic roles.
A paper presented by the secretariat described
some of the developments relating to selected
fields of official statistics. It was noted
that in formulating statistical legislation
and developing the organizational structure,
it was important for countries in transition
to learn from the experience of other countries.
The Working Group also discussed the importance
of the Internet, civil registration and vital
statistics, poverty statistics, and the implementation
of the Minimum National Social Data Set (MNSDS).
The Working Group reviewed the implications
of the year 2000 (Y2K) problem for national
statistical offices (NSOs), and noted several
reasons as to why the resolution of that problem
posed extraordinary challenges for all public
and private organizations, including NSOs. The
year 2000 problem, colloquially known as the
Y2K problem, refers to computer hardware and
software, as well as chips embedded in security
systems, lifts etc, that were built or programmed
so that they used only two digits for the value
of the year. They are likely to fail or produce
erratic results when the year 1999 would change
to 2000. The Working Group recommended that
NSOs should identify the implications of failure
of any of their systems in order to prioritize
which of the mission-critical applications should
be fixed first.
The work of IMF on the development of the
data dissemination standards was also introduced
to the Working Group. The set of standards are
intended to guide IMF member countries in providing
economic and financial statistics to the public.
The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS)
is aimed at all IMF member countries with a
focus on imprvement in data quality. The principal
focus of the Special Data Dissemination Standard
(SDDS) is on timely dissemination of data in
countries that generally already meet high data
quality standards. The Working Group noted that,
in addition to the economic and financial data
categories covered by SDDS, GDDS also included
a set of socio-demographic indicators.
The Working Group agreed that the availability
of data according to SDDS could not preclude
financial crises, but felt that more detailed
and timelier relevant data could have a role
in ameliorating their adverse impacts. An additional
item on net international reserves, yet to be
defined precisely, might be added to SDDS.
The Working Group recognized the importance
of SDDS and particularly GDDS as a type of master
framework for the development of national statistical
systems. GDDS in fact highlighted what were
well-known problems and long-standing shortcomings
common to many statistically less advanced countries.
The Working Group welcomed the possibility that
the advent of GDDS would not only result in
technical assistance for implementation of the
System but also provide a stronger argument
for support to statistical infrastructure generally.
The meeting welcomed the preliminary plans of
IMF to conduct two seminars on GDDS for countries
in the region, one in July 1998 for larger countries
and another in 1999 for island countries.
In discussing the revised Principles and Recommendations
for Population and Housing Censuses, endorsed
by the Statistical Commission in February 1997,
Working Group voiced a concern that the external
funding for the next census round might be at
a lower level than in the past. While recognizing
the importance of disability statistics for
social and welfare programme planning, the Working
Group nevertheless felt that the topic might
be too sensitive to include in a census and
raised difficult methodological and conceptual
issues. The Working Group noted the history
of population and housing censuses in Mongolia.
A presentation was made on the development
of gender statistics in the Philippines. The
Working Group noted that the secretariat had
been implementing two projects on gender statistics,
and would continue to encourage countries in
the region to give priority to the development
of gender statistics in specific areas where
data were deficient. The difficulties in evaluating
the economic contribution of women, especially
in the informal sector, were noted by the Working
Group.
The Working Group urged SIAP to review and
include more modules on gender statistics in
its training programmes, particularly in methodology
and analysis. The secretariat was likewise urged
to seek financial support from the donor in
order to complete the printing of the set of
16 profiles on women produced under the project
on improving statistics on women in the ESCAP
region.
The Working Group considered documents concerning
the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) in
Thailand and in the region. It recognized that
the full 1993 SNA could be implemented on an
incremental basis, in terms of data availability
and analytical requirements. The Working Group
expressed appreciation for the various types
of assistance provided by ADB, IMF, SIAP and
other multilateral and bilateral agencies with
the aim of strengthening the capacity of the
countries in the compilation of national accounts.
The secretariat's advisory services in national
accounts and the forthcoming series of subregional
workshops were similarly strongly appreciated
and supported.
The Working Group noted that measurement of
inflation was a crucial input expected of statisticians
for policy-making, but statisticians were faced
with problems in the absence of an internationally
accepted set of concepts and definitions to
underpin inflation measurements. The Working
Group heard with interest about the review of
the Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) undertaken
by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It also
noted the development of an analytical framework
for measuring inflation based on a "market transactions"
approach defined by the interaction of demand
and supply factors in the market place.
The Working Group noted that there were variations
in the calculation of annual changes in price
indexes, which could result in substantially
different measures for inflation; it suggested
that standardization of methodology in that
and other respects would improve comparability
across countries. The Working Group noted with
interest that some countries had succeeded in
cutting costs of CPI compilation by restricting
the number of collection centres without affecting
the quality of the index, since studies had
shown that price movements in other centres
were quite similar. The Working Group also heard
with interest the progress in the evaluation
of the International Comparison Programme (ICP),
which had been requested by the Statistical
Commission.
Concerning the programme of work in statistics,
1998-1999, the Working Group noted that there
was a need to give more attention to poverty
measurement and assign higher priority to the
Statistical Newsletter of ESCAP. It commended
the secretariat on the establishment of a very
useful and informative home page for the Statistics
Division on the Internet. SIAP and the Statistics
Division were urged to organize meetings on
topics of priority concern, including the year
2000 (Y2K) problem. It noted that organization
of technical meetings would be more certain
if members and associate members of ESCAP were
able to pay for their own participation.
The Working Group discussed the framework
for the programme of work of the ESCAP secretariat
in statistics for the bienniunm 2000-2001, and
noted that most of the priority areas identified
by the Committee on Statistics for 1998-1999
would still be valid. It also endorsed the priority
areas identified by the bureau -- including
poverty statistics, information dissemination,
review of statistical legislation, data archiving,
pricing of information, and coordination.
Working
Party on the Application of New Technology to
Population Data
The first meeting of the Working Party on
the Application of New Technology to Population
Data was organized by the Statistics Division
of ESCAP at Bangkok from 24 to 26 September
1997. It was attended by member experts from
Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Macau,
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. An expert
from the United Nations Statistics Division
(UNSD), the Director of SIAP, and the ESCAP
Adviser on Population Data Processing and Database
Management assigned to UNFPA/CST (Bangkok) also
participated. The Working Party elected Mr Tomas
Africa (Philippines) as Chairperson and Mr Paul
Cheung (Singapore) as Vice-Chairperson. The
meeting was inaugurated by Mr Andrew J Flatt,
Director of the Statistics Division of ESCAP.
In welcoming the meeting participants, Mr
Flatt invited the Working Party to review its
own terms of reference and outline a work plan
for the next two years. He thanked the donor,
UNFPA, for its generous funding to the project
under which the Working Party was established.
The project aims at promoting effective utilization
of modern technology in population data collection,
processing, dissemination and presentation.
The meeting was a step towards initiating project
operations by identifying information technology
applications that could be implemented in selected
pilot countries. Basically, some suitable applications
will be developed in the pilot countries, based
primarily on existing commercial and public
domain software. Another task of the Working
Party will be to discuss approaches to developing
guidelines that could be useful in increasing
the effectiveness of the use of information
technology in population statistics. In general,
the Working Party is expected to technically
guide the ESCAP secretariat in the implementation
of activities designed to accomplish the objectives
of the project. The project activities are also
expected to be strengthened through contributions
from the organizations represented in the Working
Party. The Working Party decided to focus its
second meeting on the use of the Internet, and
asked the secretariat to hold the meeting in
a suitable venue, such as Singapore.
The following are some selected recommendations
of the first meeting of the Working Party:
Terms of reference of
the Working Party:
To play a pivotal
role in consolidating the experiences of
the countries in the application of new
technology to population data and in sharing
them within the region;
To identify priorities
and provide guidance to the activities of
the project;
To advise the secretariat
on the strategy, approach and modalities
to be adopted in undertaking project activities,
producing its outputs, and meeting the immediate
objectives;
To review and monitor
progress of the project activities and submit
its observations, suggestions and recommendations
to the secretariat and the Committee on
Statistics;
To formulate procedures
and make arrangements for the active participation
of its members and their parent organizations
in the activities of the project and its
outputs, including the preparation of guidelines
and provision of technical advice to the
pilot countries;
To play the focal
role, and guide the secretariat as necessary,
in securing close cooperation and inputs
to the project activities from various national
and international organizations; and
To determine the timing
and provisional agenda for its own future
meetings.
Recognizing that the parent
organizations of some of its members were
engaged in a wide range of evaluations of
technology options for various aspects of
population data processing, the Working Party
recommended that the results of such evaluations
should be shared.
The Working Party decided
that the major focus of the project will be
on emerging information technology.
The Working Party identified
three core areas as the major focus of the
project, as follows:
GIS (geographic information
systems) in census and survey applications
Imaging and data capture
technology
Application of Internet-based
technology
As the Internet could
be used at various stages of population data
collection and dissemination, the Working
Party decided to focus its second session
on the topic and related issues. In that meeting
the Working Party will also review the progress
on various activities of the project and consider
a training proposal to be prepared by SIAP.
In light of its major
focus the Working Party decided that the topics
and the sites of the three pilot applications
to be undertaken should be as follows:
Imaging technology
- Indonesia
Use of GIS for census
operations and dissemination - Philippines
Use of Global Positioning
System (GPS) for preparation of census enumeration
area maps - Bangladesh
The Working Party recommended
that a sub-group should be formed to review
the imaging technologies and facilitate their
selection and deployment.
The Working Party recommended
that the secretariat should conduct a survey
to assess the use of information technology
in population data collection, processing
and dissemination.
The Working Party recommended
that 5 issues of the project Newsletter be
produced with the following focus:
Introduction to the
project - proceedings of the first meeting
of the Working Party
Internet
GIS (including GPS
and satellite imagery)
Imaging, data capture
and hand-held devices
Summary and evaluation
of the project
The Working Party recommended
that the following three sets of "guidelines"
be produced under the project as follows:
Topic
Coordinator
a)
Dissemination
Secretariat
b)
Mapping
Bangladesh/Philippines
c)
Data entry, capture, processing
and archiving
Indonesia
The Working Party recommended
the following provisional timetable for its
future meetings:
2nd meeting - as early
as possible but not later than early April
1998
3rd meeting - September
1998
4th meeting - first
half of 1999
Census
of India 1991: List of publications
The Office of the Registrar General of India
has announced that the results of the Census
of India 1991 are now available in many volumes
of publications and computer diskettes. The
census publications and diskettes can be purchased
from all Directorates of Census Operations located
in State/Union Territory capitals and the following
outlets:
Sales Depat
Office of the Registrer General, India
2/A Mansingh Road
New Delhi - 110 011
Telephone: (91-11) 338 6583
The Controller of
Publications
Old Secretariat
Civil Lines
Delhi - 110 054
Kitab Mahal
State Emporia Complex, Unit No. 21
Baba Kharak Singh Marg
New Delhi - 110 001
International
training programmes in Labour Statistics, 1998
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, has provided
international training since 1945. Each year,
the BLS International Labor Statistics Center
conducts seminars of 4 to 6 weeks duration at
its training facilities in Washington, DC. The
seminars provide distinctive learning experiences
for professionals who produce, use, or analyze
economic and social statistics relating to workers
and the labor force. Designed to strengthen
capabilities in collecting and analyzing labor
statistics, the seminars emphasize the practical
applications of statistical and analytical techniques.
Each seminar includes lectures, discussions,
and workshops, as well as a field trip.
The 1998 program includes these seminars:
Labor Market Information
Measuring Wages, Salaries,
and Other Compensation
Managing Information Technology
Constructing Price Indexes
Measuring Productivity
Measuring Employment,
Underemployment and Unemployment
Projecting Tomorrow's
Workforce Needs
Economic Indicators
Analyzing Labor Statistics
Training of Trainers (TOT), an optional three-day
special program designed to promote the sustainability
of training, is available after selected seminars.
Participants attending the TOT program will learn
the necessary skills to train their colleagues
on material learned in a seminar.
Potential training sponsors include national
governments, the United Nations and its affiliated
agencies, the World Bank, regional organizations
such as the Organization of American States,
or non-profit organizations such as the Asia
Foundation. In some cases, USAID country Missions
may provide funding. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
regrets that it cannot provide financial support
or petition sponsors on behalf of applicants.
All inquiries about applications should be
directed to:
Ms Elizabeth A.
Taylor, Director
International Labor Statistics Center
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor, Room 2190
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20212-0001
Phone: (1) (202) 606-5666
Fax: (1) (202) 606-7900
E-mail: Int_Train@bls.gov
Internet access: http://stats.bls.gov/inthome.htm
Jan
Tinbergen Awards Compettition for young statisticians
from developing countries 1999
The International Statistical Institute (ISI)
has announced the Ninth Competition among young
statisticians from developing countries who
are invited to submit a paper on any topic within
the broad field of statistics, for possible
presentation at the 52nd Session of the ISI
to be held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1999.
Participation in the competition is open to
nationals of developing countries who are living
in a developing country, who were born in 1967
or later.
Previous winners of the award are prohibited
from competing again.
Papers submitted must be unpublished, original
works which may include material from participants'
university theses.
The papers submitted will be examined by an
International Jury of distinguished statisticians
who will select the three best papers presented
in the competition. Their decision will be final.
Each author of a winning paper will receive
the Jan Tinbergen Award in the amount of 5,000
Dutch Guilders and be invited to present their
papers at the Helsinki Session of ISI, with
all expenses paid (i.e. round trip airline ticket
from his/her place of residence to Helsinki
plus a lump sum to cover living expenses).
Manuscripts for the Competition should be
submitted in time to reach the ISI not later
than January 1, 1999.
The rules governing the preparation of papers,
application forms and full details are available
on request from the ISI Permanent Office. The
address is as follows:
The Director
Permanent Office
International Statistical Institute
428 Prinses Beatrixlaan
2270 AZ Voorburg
The Netherlands
Missions
of ESCAP Statistics Division Staff
Mr Andrew J. Flatt,
Director, Statistics Division, undertook the
following missions:
Tokyo (14-18 October):
To attend the third session of SIAP Governing
Board, 15-17 October 1997 in Tokyo, Japan.
Chiangrai (27 October
- 1 November): To participate in the Expert
Group Meeting in Preparation for the Second
Ministerial Conference on Urbanization in
Asia and the Pacific, 28-31 October 1997 in
Chiangrai, Thailand.
New York (29 November
- 5 December): To participate in the Third
Meeting of the Expert Group on International
Economic and Social Classifications, 1-3 December
1997, New York.
Mr M. Khalid Siddiqui, Chief, Statistics
Development Section undertook a mission as follows:
Nadi (6-13 December):
To represent ESCAP and serve as a resource
person at the Seminar on the Strategies for
2000 round of censuses in the Pacific, 8-12
December 1997, Nadi, Fiji.
Mr Loh Meng Kow, Statistician, undertook
a mission, jointly with Ms Arboleda, Regional
Adviser on National Accounts, as follows:
Jakarta (8-12 December):
To discuss on training materials for SNA workshop
to be held in Jakarta in March 1998 and finalize
arrangements for the workshops.
Ms H.A. Arboleda, Regional Adviser on National
Accounts visited the following countries:
Philippines (12-25
October): To finalize the training arrangement
for the 1993 SNA training and to act as a
resource person/lecturer for the training
(13-24 October); and to discuss with the counterpart
the inputs to the Jakarta workshop on national
accounts.
Bangladesh (16-29
November): To participate in an inter-agency
review of Bangladesh national accounts statistics,
17-28 November 1997, Dhaka.
Mr M.N. Ozsever, ESCAP Adviser on Population
Data Processing and Database Management with the
UNFPA/CST in Bangkok, undertook the following
missions:
Thailand (2-10,
20-31 October): To assist the Department of
Health, Ministry of Public Health in evaluating
the project THA/93/P02 - support to strengthen
MIS for MCH and FP programmes in Thailand.
Islamabad (13-18
December): To participate in the meeting of
the UNFPA Asia and Pacific Division.
Mr L.H. Lewis, ESCAP Adviser on Population
Statistics with the UNFPA/CST in Suva, undertook
missions as follows:
Bangkok (6-18 November):
To undertake the "agency visit" and to participate
in the Working Group of Statistical Experts
held in Bangkok from 10-14 November 1997.
Fiji (7-12 December):
To assist with census 2000.
Islamabad (13-18
December): To participate in the meeting of
the UNFPA Asia and Pacific Division.
Ms Luisa T. Engracia, ESCAP Adviser on
Population Statistics with the UNFPA/CST in Almaty,
undertook the following missions:
Nepal (27 September-10
October): To organize and conduct a training
on the use of SPSS to Bhutanese nationals
as part of a programme to develop national
capacity in data collection and data processing.
Kyrgyzstan (13-17
October): To assess the capability of the
State Statistical Committee to prepare and
conduct a census of population and to determine
and to recommend those aspects requiring external
assistance.
Iran (Islamic Republic
of) (26 October - 2 November): To participate
in a joint mission consisting of members from
UNFPA Headquarters, UNSD and UNICEF to review
and to make recommendations for the unification
of demographic data in Iran; also participated
in TPR meetings to review the progress and
recommend future activities for two UNFPA
projects.
Bangkok (6-18 November):
To undertake the "agency visit" and to participate
in the Working Group of Statistical Experts
held in Bangkok from 10-14 November 1997.
Maldives (25 November
- 9 December): To provide technical assistance
in the finalization of the tabulations of
the results of the 1995 Census and to recommend
tabulations for the detailed analysis of the
data.
Islamabad (13-18
December): To participate in the meeting of
the UNFPA Asia and Pacific Division.
Publications
released by the Statistics Division
Statistical Indicators
for Asia and the Pacific, Volume XXVII, No.
3, September 1997
Women in China - A Country
Profile, Statistical Profile No. 10, 1997
Women in Fiji - A Country
Profile, Statistical Profile No. 11, 1997
Visitors
to the Statistics Division
Mr Peter K. Wingfield
Digby, Statistical Consultant, Chiangmai
Mr Saimone K. Vuki,
Trade Information and Trade Promotion Officer,
Tonga Trade, Ministry of Labour, Commerce
and Industries, Nuku' alofa
Mr Motokichi Aoyama,
Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs,
Statistics and Information Department, Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo
Mr George Abalu,
Principal Regional Adviser, Food Security
and Sustainable Development, Economic Commission
for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa
Mr Samba Jack,
Chief, Policy and Programme Co-ordination
Office of the Executive Secretary, Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa
Mr Qutub Khan,
Programme Specialist in Educational Planning
and Management, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
Bangkok
Mr Manohar S. Pawar,
Lecturer in international social work and
executive officer, Faculty of Social Sciences,
La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria 3083
Mr Shao Zongming,
Deputy Director-General, State Statistical
Bureau (SSB) and Vice President, National
Statistical Society of China, Beijing
Mr Xian Zu de,
Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture,
General Organization Rural Socio-Economic
Survey, SSB, Beijing
Mr Sheng Lai Yun,
Secretary, General Office, SSB, Beijing
Mr Liu Chongxiao,
Programme Officer, Division of Multi-lateral
Relation, Department of International Cooperation,
SSB, Beijing
Mr Hung Li Shan,
Director of Hefei, Branch of Food and Agriculture
Statistical of China and Deputy Director of
Statistical Bureau of Anhui Province, Hefei
Ms Nussara Vichitkaew,
Mahidol University, Bangkok
Ms Nareerat Vichitkaew,
Mahidol University, Bangkok
Ms Wannara Chuenwattana,
Mahidol University, Bangkok
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