The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), in collaboration with Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and the University of Indonesia, will hold a National Workshop in Bali, Indonesia from 30 November to 2 December. The workshop will utilize APCICT’s flagship training programme designed to equip government officials with the tools and knowledge to leverage ICT for socio-economic development. It will be sixth time APCICT, MCIT and the University of Indonesia will jointly deliver the APCICT “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders Programme” (Academy) training in Indonesia. Subsequently, the Fifth Session of the APCICT-ESCAP Governing Council will begin on 1 December and bring together the Governing Council’s elected representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, the Republic of Korea and Thailand to review APCICT work over the past year and initiatives planned for the coming year. Governing Council members will also have the opportunity to participate in the National Workshop of Indonesia and witness first hand the application of APCICT’s capacity development work in the Asia-Pacific region.

As part of the long-standing WTO/ESCAP Technical Assistance Programme, the secretariats of both institutions are joining forces in organizing the High-level Consultations on the Doha Development Agenda Negotiating Issues for Senior Officials from Asian Economies from 6 to 10 December in New Delhi. The Consultations will be hosted by the Centre for WTO Studies of the Indian Institute for Foreign Trade which is an active ARTNeT member. The Consultations will bring together more than 25 participants from the region and India and several resource persons from WTO, ESCAP and academia/policymakers from the region. The event is intended to offer senior officials from Asian economies an opportunity to review developments in the DDA negotiations, including efforts to agree on modalities for the agriculture and NAMA negotiations later in 2011. The Consultations will focus on selected substantive issues of the DDA Negotiations, including Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), Services where the emphasis will be placed on issues related to the scheduling; as well as Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Trade and Environment.

ESCAP’s Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division (MPDD) will organize the Policy Dialogue on Emerging Macroeconomic Policy Issues and Development Challenges in the ESCAP region: A Post-Crisis Scenario on 8 December at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. Experts and policymakers from the region attending the meeting will analyze emerging macroeconomic policy issues and challenges including (i) sustaining recovery and promoting inclusive growth; (ii) macroeconomic stability, fiscal balance and inflation; (iii) capital flows, balance of payments and exchange rate management and; (iv) rebalancing Asia-Pacific economies. In addition, the MPDD will organize an Expert Group Meeting on Economic and Social Performance in the ESCAP Region on 9 December. The meeting will review working chapters of ESCAP’s flagship publication Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2011. Experts and policymakers from the region will review the state of economic and social development in Asia-Pacific countries as well as real-time challenges facing the region.

The Sixth Session of the Governing Council of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) will take place from 13 to 14 December at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. Participants from ESCAP members and associate members, United Nations bodies, Specialized Agencies and related organizations will review the administration and financial status of SIAP, and the implementation of its work programme. The session will focus on issues such as implementation of the Commission resolution on regional technical cooperation and capacity-building in statistics development in Asia and the Pacific, the implementation of the previous SIAP work plan, review and endorsement of the future work plan, as well as review of the external evaluation of SIAP.

The High-Level Consultative Meeting on Promoting Effective Use of Statistical Data for Policy Analysis and Advocacy will be organized from 13 to 14 December in Bangkok as part of a programme implemented jointly by ESCAP, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support the achievement of MDGs in Asia and the Pacific. The high-level consultation aims to provide recommendations and guidance to the ESCAP/UNDP/ADB programme for developing a strategy to improve the use of statistical data for evidence-based decision-making, with a focus on documenting and disseminating good practices. Participants will include heads of National Statistical Offices or those responsible for the production, analysis, interpretation and communication of statistical data at the system level; senior experts representing the “downstream” use of statistics, including from line ministries working on MDG-related areas such as poverty reduction, health, education, environment; and senior experts in international organizations. The participants are expected to identify and reflect on “what is working” or “what has worked” in the use of statistical data for policy analysis and advocacy in the region, and how countries can improve their capacity for using statistical data through exchanging good practices.

In response to a request by the UN Statistical Commission, the First Meeting of Partners for Statistics Development in Asia-Pacific will be held on 14 December at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. At its 40th session, the Statistical Commission, while noting the rapid progress in statistics development in the Asia-Pacific region, recognized that some countries still needed significant assistance for capacity development. The Commission’s request endorses the regional initiative proposed by international organizations, bilateral donors and ESCAP member States at a forum on coordinating support for Asia-Pacific statistics development which was organized in parallel with the February 2009 inaugural session of the Committee on Statistics. The meeting of partners aims to define the terms of reference of the coordination mechanism, identify strategic issues of common concern and agree on concrete steps to move forward. The outcomes of the meeting will be presented to the second session of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics.

ESCAP, in collaboration with the National Committee for ESCAP, Government of Cambodia, ADB and UNDP will organize the Partnership Dialogue on Developing and Implementing MDG-based National Development Strategies in Asia-Pacific Countries from 13 to 15 December in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The objective of the Dialogue is to contribute to capacity development of senior policymakers in countries with special needs to develop and implement MDG-based national development strategies and improve basic service delivery systems in achieving the MDGs by 2015. The Dialogue will be organized in four sessions: (1) Paths to 2015: Achieving the MDGs in Asia-Pacific countries; (2) MDG-based national development strategies: some regional perspectives and lessons learnt; (3) Meeting basic infrastructure needs for MDG achievement; and (4) Capacity development for local level planning in delivering basic services. About 40 participants are expected to attend, including senior policymakers and experts from 13 participating countries, selected least developed countries among them, and representatives from United Nations specialized agencies and international development agencies.

The United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM) will organize a five-day training course and a two-day policy workshop on Post Harvest Technologies for Rice Production from 14 to 20 December in Myanmar. These events are part of a UNAPCAEM pilot project of capacity building on post-harvest technologies for rice production in Myanmar which was launched this year in September. The training course and policy workshop are aimed at addressing the technological constraints and challenges with post harvest technologies in Myanmar through introduction of practical on-farm technologies and a series of policy recommendations. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar will co-host the events. Various stakeholders in Myanmar including policymakers, researchers, extension workers, and the representatives of the private sector will attend the events.