The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has launched the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS) Committee to improve and integrate statistical data to help sharpen policy-making and planning as the region moves toward greater cooperation.
The committee is tasked to meet the ASEAN community’s need for “reliable and timely statistical data that are, crucially, comparable across all 10 member-states, to help formulate the right regional policy mechanisms,” the ASEAN said in a media release.
The committee is composed of the chief statisticians and heads of National Statistical Offices in ASEAN.
“This initiative will 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,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, State Minister for National Development Planning, Republic of Indonesia, at the November 4, 2011 launching of the ACSS in Jakarta.
She added, “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.”
“With the launch of the ACSS Committee today, 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,” said Sundram Pushpanathan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community.
