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I.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION
A.
Opening of the session
1. The third session of the
Governing Board of the Statistical Institute
for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) was held in
Tokyo on 15 and 16 October 1997.
2. On behalf of the Executive
Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the meeting
was opened by the Director of the Statistics
Division of ESCAP who read out the message of
the Executive Secretary. The Executive
Secretary expressed his appreciation of the
Governing Board's valuable contribution to the
work of SIAP in providing useful guidance in
framing its work programme. Drawing the
attention of the Board to the need for reliable
statistics for informed and sound policy-making,
he stressed that the role of SIAP as a regional
training centre had to expand appropriately
to meet the statistical capability-building
needs of the developing Asian and Pacific economies.
Moreover, the work programme of SIAP would need
to be refocused to address emerging issues of
importance in statistics, particularly those
identified in the United Nations-sponsored global
summits of the 1990s.
3. Along with the increasing
demand for official statistics and greater emphasis
on the quality of the data in terms of accuracy
and timeliness, data users were searching for
simple summary statistics and key indicators.
There was growing reliance by policy makers
on micro-statistics relating to particular areas,
sectors and groups vis-à-vis consolidated
national-level statistics. It was important
to apply information technology to statistical
work and to develop fresh approaches to statistics
in a world experiencing globalization of production
processes.
4. The Executive Secretary
requested the Governing Board to deliberate
on measures to enhance the financial soundness
and stability of SIAP, in view of the resource
constraints being encountered by the United
Nations system. He also asked the Board
to encourage all members and associate members
of ESCAP to support the Institute in cash or
in kind. He expressed his sincere thanks
to those countries of the region that provide
financial support to SIAP and asked them to
consider increasing their contributions.
5. The Executive Secretary
expressed his deep appreciation and gratitude
to the Government of Japan for being the generous
host of the Institute and, in particular, to
the Management and Coordinating Agency (MCA)
for its constructive and helpful role in the
organization and implementation of SIAP training
programmes. Noting that any reduction
in assistance to SIAP by the Government of Japan
could have an adverse impact on the Institute's
training programmes, he asked the Governing
Board to urge the Government of Japan through
MCA to restrain, to the extent possible, implementation
of the cut in the budget for SIAP programmes
and activities. 6. The Executive Secretary expressed
his deep appreciation to the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) for its strong
financial support of SIAP, which has been a
crucial factor in making the Institute's outreach
programme effective and visible. He also
thanked other international organizations and
agencies, particularly the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), for
resource support for SIAP training programmes
and activities.
B.
Attendance
7. The session was attended
by representatives of the following members
of the Governing Board: Australia, Fiji, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea,
Singapore and Thailand.
8. The chairperson of the
Committee on Statistics and representatives
of ESCAP attended the session.
9. Representatives of the
following members and associate members of ESCAP
attended the session as observers: Federated
States of Micronesia, Islamic Republic of Iran,
Macau, Philippines and Viet Nam.
10. Representatives of the
following United Nations agencies participated
as observers: FAO and the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF).
11. A representative of the
Pacific Community (SPC) also attended as an
observer.
C.
Election of officers
12. The Board elected the
following officers:
- Chairperson:
Mr Tim Skinner (Australia)
- Vice-chairperson:
Mr Takanobu Negi (Japan)
D.
Agenda
13. The session adopted the
following agenda:
- Opening of the meeting.
- Election of officers.
- Adoption of the agenda.
- Matters arising from
the second session of the Governing Board.
- Report of the Director
of SIAP.
- Report on initiatives
taken to chart the new direction of SIAP.
- Programme of work
and resource mobilization for 1998/99.
- Review of the draft
annual report of the Governing Board to
the Commission.
- Other matters.
- Adoption of the report.
II. MATTERS
ARISING FROM THE SECOND SESSION OF THE GOVERNING
BOARD
(Agenda item 4)
14. The Governing Board noted
that one issue had arisen from its second session,
held in November 1996, namely the directive
to the Director of SIAP to initiate consultations
with the Government of Japan, member countries,
UNDP, and other relevant multilateral, regional
and subregional organizations to follow up the
recommendations adopted at the second session.
The Board noted that appropriate action had
been taken on that issue and decided to discuss
it under the agenda item 6.
III.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF SIAP
(Agenda item 5)
15. The meeting had before
it the report of the Director of SIAP contained
in document STAT/SIAP/GB(3)/2. The Director
summarized the activities of the Institute since
the second session of the Board.
16. The Board was informed
that since November 1996 the Institute had conducted
nine training activities in Tokyo: (a) a group
training course in practical statistics (33
participants from 31 countries); (b) a group
training course in automatic data-processing
for trainers (23 participants from 23 countries);
(c) a group training course in analysis and
interpretation of statistics (12 participants
from 12 countries); (d) a course/workshop on
sample design for household and establishment
surveys (21 participants from 20 countries);
(e) two group training courses in practical
statistics for officials of Cambodia (5 participants
each); as well as three special individual programmes
for one participant from Macau in national accounts;
four participants from Viet Nam on national
accounts and two participants who were already
in Japan for a 2-day course on an introduction
to Excel for statistical use.
17. Under the Institute's
outreach programme, the Director informed the
meeting of the following four activities carried
out since November 1996 under UNDP/SIAP project
RAS/92/005: (a) a training mission to Cambodia,
to assist the National Institute of Statistics,
Cambodia to design and train statisticians in
the selection of a sample for the Cambodia socio-economic
survey, 1997; (b) a training mission to Brunei
Darussalam, to assist the statisticians in developing
a sample design for the household income and
expenditure survey 1997, as well as to provide
training on the procedures and the main concepts
of the survey and the methodology of the construction
of the Consumer Price Index and price collection
procedures; (c) a country course in China in
sample design for household and establishment
surveys; and (d) a country course in Maldives
on basic statistics.
18. Regarding the programme
of work, the Board was informed that the Institute
was currently conducting in Tokyo the Eighth
Training Course in Practical Statistics with
33 participants from 28 countries, in which
the curriculum had been streamlined and new
topics incorporated. The planned outreach
programme for 1997 included a subregional course
on sample design for household and establishment
surveys for the Pacific island countries, held
at Suva in November, and a similar course for
countries with economies in transition, held
at Bangkok in December.
19. Concerning institutional
matters, the Director informed the Board that
a detailed report on initiatives taken to chart
the new direction of SIAP had been submitted
under agenda item 6.
20. In relation to financial
matters, the Director noted with appreciation
the contributions from member countries to the
institutional budget of SIAP and, in particular,
the resumption of the contribution of the Islamic
Republic of Iran and a new contribution by Vanuatu.
He welcomed the increase in contributions from
Brunei Darussalam, India and the Philippines.
He also brought to the Board's attention that
annex II in document STAT/SIAP/GB(3)/5 should
be updated to take into account the contribution
of Fiji for 1995 and 1996 which had just been
received.
21. The Director pointed
out that the contribution of the Government
of Japan continued to constitute the bulk of
the overall cash contributions. However,
since any reduction in assistance to SIAP by
the Government of Japan could have an adverse
impact on the Institute's training programmes,
he asked the Board to consider urging the Government
of Japan through MCA to restrain, to the extent
possible, implementation of the cut in the budget
for SIAP programmes and activities. The
Director also touched upon the issue of countries
that had been receiving assistance from SIAP
on a sustained basis but made no contribution,
and requested the Board to consider urging those
countries that had not made pledges at the fifty-third
session of Commission, as well as those that
had not made any cash contributions to SIAP,
to do so.
22. The Director informed
the Board that UNDP had approved the SIAP programme
on establishing and strengthening national capability
in data collection/compilation and statistical
analysis required in the preparation of national
human development reports for the region.
An initial sum of about US$ 600,000 for a three-year
period beginning in November 1997 had just been
approved, and UNDP had also agreed to a review
for additional funding once the activities were
under way.
23. The Governing Board deliberated
intensively upon the issues mentioned in the
Director's report, and made several useful suggestions.
The Board appreciated the work done by SIAP
and noted that the Director had implemented
several of the recommendations made by the Governing
Board at its second session, particularly those
relating to the inclusion of new topics in the
training programmes of SIAP and to consultation
with member governments and relevant multilateral/regional
organizations on expanding collaboration and
cooperation in the implementation of SIAP activities.
24. With regard to the ongoing SIAP programme
of Tokyo-based courses, the Governing Board
agreed on the following guidelines:
- Regarding the eligibility
conditions for participation in SIAP courses,
it was pointed out that since the region was
very heterogeneous, age limits should not
be overriding criteria in the selection process.
Although the Director had explained that the
age limit differed with courses and was imposed
to induce a measure of homogeneity in the
background of participants, it was agreed
that, depending upon the circumstances, some
flexibility could be adopted in special cases;
- The specialized topic component
of the course on interpretation and analysis
could be made more focused, as it would facilitate
the nomination process in the beneficiary
countries by enabling identification of those
officials who would be best suited to take
advantage of the course;
- On courses organized through
institutional funds, SIAP could try to relocate
such courses outside Tokyo, to countries in
which costs were relatively lower. In
that context, some countries, notably Indonesia
and the Philippines, had offered collaborative
arrangements with their national training
facilities and institutes. It was noted
that ESCAP facilities at Bangkok could also
be utilized. The Board endorsed the
proposal, since increasing cost-efficiency
in the conduct of courses could raise participation
and make it possible to organize a larger
number of courses;
- Training of trainers should
receive special attention in SIAP activities
owing to its potential of having a compounding
effect in developing national capability-building.
25. In addition, the Governing
Board made the following suggestions:
- The six-month course on
practical statistics could be structured into
two modules, with a three-month first semester
at an elementary level for junior statisticians
and a three-month second semester at a relatively
more advanced level in which the more experienced
statisticians could join later. That
would suit the special needs of many countries,
particularly those that could not release
staff for a long period, and might also permit
a larger number of statisticians to benefit
from SIAP training;
- SIAP should consider, at
an appropriate time, the issue of reducing
the number of long-term fellowships and increasing
the participation in short-term courses.
In that regard, the Board noted that at its
past sessions there had been much support
for the six-month training course in practical
statistics. Furthermore, there was strong
support at the current session for continuing
the six-month course for smaller countries,
such as the Pacific island countries, where
adequate training facilities were lacking
and there was an acute problem of staff turnover;
- The SIAP training programme
could become more effective and beneficial
if training was imparted on the basis of sectors,
for example, industrial statistics, agricultural
statistics and so on; (d) Since data collection
in the emerging areas was an important but
difficult task, SIAP could initiate training
in that regard;
- SIAP could try to develop
the distance learning mode to spread the impact
of its training by reaching a larger number
of recipients; in the age of rapid advances
in information technology the benefits could
be large.
26. The Board welcomed the
proposal of SIAP to organize, subject to obtaining
the requisite funds, advanced-level seminars
on contemporary issues, including the timeliness
of statistics, Special Data Dissemination Standard
(SDDS) and General Data Dissemination System
(GDDS) for senior officials of national statistical
organizations.
27. The Governing Board also
discussed the SIAP outreach training programme
and provided the following guidance:
- In specialized country courses,
neighbouring countries could also be invited
to participate, in order to conserve resources.
Conversely, in training courses organized
by national statistical offices, neighbouring
countries could be invited with SIAP providing
for the expenses of their participation or
under technical cooperation among developing
countries (TCDC) and other funding arrangements;
- SIAP could draw upon regional
expertise and expand the scope of its activities.
Such an approach would also allow for the
exchange of experience, which should be useful;
- The outreach programme should
be, as far as possible, tailored to country-specific
training needs; in that regard, a suggestion
was made that SIAP could conduct special studies
to identify the major deficiencies existing
in the statistical systems of the member countries;
- For countries of the region,
the following were important areas for training
by SIAP through its outreach programme: designing
and conducting socio-economic surveys, creating
databases processing/analysing data, improving
the quality of statistics, generating national
accounts, and processing foreign trade data;
- The representative of UNICEF
briefed the Board on the work of his organization
and indicated there were areas especially
relating to women and children whereby SIAP
and UNICEF could benefit by jointly undertaking
programmes at the country level;
- The representative of FAO
mentioned the benefit of the collaboration
with SIAP in conducting a joint regional training
activity on data for food security in Cambodia.
He further added there were areas where FAO
had the expertise, such as in food security
and nutrition, which SIAP could utilize in
implementing its outreach programmes.
28. The meeting was informed
that, in addition to SIAP outreach activities,
members could benefit from ESCAP and ESCAP/UNFPA
regional advisory services in the national accounts
and demography fields. In addition, ESCAP
could arrange for short-term advisory services
in specific areas if the requesting governments
provided the terms of reference of the technical
assistance sought.
29. On the issue of the possible
reduction in future funding for SIAP from the
Government of Japan owing to its overall reduction
of official development assistance, it was suggested
that the most effective way of impressing upon
the Government to consider refraining from doing
so, was to ensure that SIAP training continued
to have a demonstrated and positive impact on
the statistical systems of the recipient countries.
The representative of the Government of Japan
assured the Board that the financial stability
of SIAP was important to the statistical development
of developing countries of the region, and that
the collaborating host agency, that is, MCA,
would exert its best efforts to minimize the
financial cut, if any, relating to SIAP.
30. In the context of strengthening
the financial basis of SIAP, the Governing Board
decided that the chairperson should issue reminders
to those ESCAP members and associate members
who had not made any financial contribution
to SIAP and those who were contributing below
the level of contribution recommended by the
Commission, particularly if they had been receiving
assistance from SIAP on a sustained basis.
The multilateral and regional agencies/organizations
should also be approached for contributions
in cash and/or in kind to enable SIAP to extend
its programme activities.
31. The Governing Board placed
on record its appreciation and gratitude for
the contribution in cash and in kind of the
Government of Japan to SIAP. The Board
also thanked the governments which had made
cash contributions to SIAP for their generosity
and urged them to consider increasing their
contributions in future. The Board gratefully
acknowledged the continued strong programme
support of UNDP to SIAP, and thanked FAO for
its collaboration with and resource support
for SIAP.
32. On the issue of mobilizing
additional funding for SIAP programme activities,
the Board discussed a suggestion to seek the
support of the private sector. It was
noted that although private sector foundations
and non-governmental organizations could possibly
be approached for such support, a cautious stance
was advisable, particularly to ensure that there
was no breach of the financial rules and regulations
of United Nations and the Government of Japan.
The Board suggested that the Director should
consult with the concerned authorities prior
to initiating any action.
33. Other suggestions aimed
at expanding the resource base of SIAP included
the offering of participation in SIAP courses
to the private sector on a fee-paying basis,
and the creation of a revolving fund for SIAP,
the earnings of which could be used to finance
SIAP activities.
IV.
REPORT ON INITIATIVES TAKEN TO CHART THE NEW
DIRECTION OF SIAP
(Agenda item 6)
34. The Governing Board had
before it document STAT/SIAP/GB(3)/3 containing
a report on initiatives taken to chart the new
direction of SIAP.
35. The Director informed
the Board of the modifications introduced in
the current year to the curricula of two Tokyo-based
courses: the six-month course in practical statistics
and the two-month course in analysis and interpretation
of statistics. The collaborative arrangements
for resource support with ESCAP, FAO, UNEP,
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development and the East-West Centre, Hawaii
were touched upon.
36. The Board was informed
of details regarding the development of a homepage
on the Internet with the assistance of the Government
of Japan, and of its contents.
37. The Board was provided
with details of the favourable and positive
outcomes of consultations held by the Director
with some of the national statistical offices
on proposed collaborative partnerships, particularly
with Australia, Macau and Singapore, as well
as discussions with several international and
regional organizations/agencies on the issues
of obtaining funding, technical expertise and
training materials. The Board was also
apprised of current collaboration with ESCAP,
UNDP and the World Bank.
38. The Governing Board,
in discussing the document, noted with appreciation
the offers of collaboration made by the representatives
of Indonesia and the Philippines for the conduct
of SIAP courses at their respective national
training institutes. The representative
of the Republic of Korea explained that although
the Republic of Korea was supportive of such
collaboration, it was too early to make any
firm commitment since statistical training facilities
would be established only in the year 2000.
39. The Board was supportive
of restructuring the Tokyo-based courses, particularly
the six-month group training course in practical
statistics, given the large part of SIAP in-house
resources it absorbed. The Board noted
the support for the current courses from some
developing countries in the Pacific region.
The Board felt a module approach to the course
might provide a solution.
40. None the less, the Board
recommended that the issue of restructuring
SIAP courses should be viewed in a positive
way and in totality. It acknowledged that
the financial situation would have a bearing
on the extent and timing of such restructuring.
It was suggested that SIAP should be geared
to change in a gradual way, with the changing
needs of national statistical offices in a region
that was dynamic and experiencing change.
In that context, the Director brought to the
Board's attention that the feasible approach
was to introduce small changes in the short
term and prepare to respond to the restructuring
in the medium term.
41. The Board noted the views
of the representatives of FAO, UNICEF and the
Pacific Community on the issues raised in the
report, particularly on the ongoing activities
relevant to the work programme of SIAP, the
possibilities of future collaboration with SIAP,
and offers of supplementary resource support
for SIAP training activities in national capability-building
instatistics.
42. The Governing Board reiterated
its gratitude to UNDP for its very timely and
generous support to SIAP under its sixth intercountry
programme funding cycle, and recommended that
SIAP should seek avenues to supplement the impact
of activities to be implemented through that
project by obtaining regional expertise.
In that context, and as part of a long-term
strategy, the Board recommended that SIAP should
embark on developing collaborative arrangements
within the region. The representative
of Australia offered to provide technical expertise
to SIAP, if required.
43. The Governing Board concluded
its discussion on the agenda item by commending
and supporting the Director of SIAP for the
initiatives taken by him since the last session
of the Governing Board towards developing collaborative
partnerships with the national statistical offices
and relevant international/regional organizations/agencies
for the implementation of SIAP training activities.
In that regard, the Board noted with appreciation
the several positive outcomes of the Director's
initiatives, as detailed in his report.
The Board also requested the Director of SIAP
to provide an interim report to the Board after
six months on the progress made in that regard.
V. PROGRAMME OF WORK AND RESOURCE
MOBILIZATION FOR 1998/99
(Agenda item 7)
44. A draft programme of
work for 1998/99, as contained in document STAT/SIAP/GB(3)/4
was presented to the Governing Board.
45. The Board was informed
that the programme of work for 1998/99 would
include three general Tokyo-based group training
courses in which participants would be invited
from a cross-section of the region's developing
economies, and one group training course specifically
for Cambodia. Although in the document
the course/workshop on sample design for household
and establishment surveys, which was funded
from the institutional budget of SIAP, was reflected
as a Tokyo-based course, that course/workshop
would be organized outside Japan to conserve
funds in line with the Governing Board's approval
under agenda item 5 at that meeting. The
Board was also informed that the savings so
effected would be utilized by SIAP to organize
additional training courses/workshops with collaboration
with national statistical offices and training
institutes.
46. The Director informed
the Board that SIAP would continue to facilitate
individual training courses relevant to development
of statistics in the region. Such courses
would be conducted on special requests received
from national statistical offices for the training
of their staff in specialized areas, and supported
by sponsoring agencies.
47. Regarding the outreach
programme of SIAP, the Board was informed that
implementation of the three-year UNDP-funded
project on establishing and strengthening national
capability in data collection/compilation and
statistical analysis required in the preparation
of national human development reports which
should commence in November 1997 would be under
way and would be implemented through a mix of
activities at the national, subregional and
regional levels.
48. Other outreach activities
in 1998 would include a national training course
in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to
be conducted in Vientiane and funded by the
national UNDP office, on poverty and other social
indicators. In addition, in collaboration
with and funding by the World Bank, a course
on survey preparation and sample design would
be organized in Cambodia. The Board was
also informed that should funding be secured
by ESCAP, the preparatory work would commence
in 1998 for the conduct of an advanced-level
regional seminar in 1999 on strategies for increased
efficiency in the collection, processing and
analysis of official statistics, particularly
in emerging areas to meet statistical needs
and challenges in the year 2000 and beyond.
49. The Board took note of
the statement of the representative of the Government
of Japan that the size of the JICA (Japan International
Cooperation Agency)-funded Tokyo-based courses
in 1998/99 would eventually depend on the actual
budget allocation, which would be known only
by the year-end of 1998. The Board, accordingly,
advised the Director to negotiate with the Government
of Japan to restructure the courses, if it became
necessary to do so in the light of the budgetary
allocations.
50. The Board suggested that
since the UNDP/SIAP project had several elements
in common with the proposed national training
course, to be held in the Lao People's Democratic
Republic, SIAP resources could be maximized
by funding the participation of other countries
from the UNDP/SIAP project on national human
resources indicators.
51. On the issue of new topics
to be addressed in SIAP training programmes,
there was general agreement on introducing gender
statistics, environmental statistics, statistics
relating to the informal sector, and socio-economic
indicators of development. However, on
the proposal to include satellite accounting,
which was a subject of growing importance, one
view was that it should be treated as an element
of the 1993 system of national accounts (SNA
1993). The representative of FAO mentioned
that a course on agricultural statistics could
be introduced within the framework of SNA 1993
and include satellite accounting under it.
It was also brought to the attention of the
Board that work was undertaken on two other
areas of satellite accounting in the region,
namely human capital and tourism. 52. The discussions
on the agenda item concluded with the observation
by the Board that long-term programme issues
were very important, and should always be kept
in view in deciding upon the content of the
Tokyo-based and outreach courses of SIAP.
It was also suggested that SIAP could consider
devoting a small part of its admittedly meagre
resources to research work, primarily focused
on keeping abreast with the most recent developments
in those areas that were included in the curricula
of SIAP courses.
VI. REVIEW OF THE DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE GOVERNING BOARD TO THE COMMISSION
(Agenda item 8)
53. The meeting had before
it document STAT/SIAP/GB(3)/5 on the draft annual
report of the Governing Board to the Commission.
54. The Director informed
the Board that the report was in draft form
and had been prepared in a format, following
the procedure in the past, to reflect all activities
that were programmed to be completed by April
1998. In the light of discussions at the
third session, the draft would undergo some
changes and it was hoped that members of the
Governing Board would be provided with the revised
draft report for comments before it was submitted
to the Commission.
55. Introducing the document,
the Director remarked that the first section
concerned courses conducted during the year
by SIAP and its outreach programme, while the
second section was the more substantive part
of the report, covering initiatives undertaken
to chart the new direction of SIAP. Both
parts had been discussed by the Board.
Changes would occur in the draft of the second
section, mainly with regard to the collaborative
arrangements, some of which should be concluded
with the governments and organizations, as well
as on account of the proposal to conduct the
institutionally- funded courses away from Tokyo.
Another amendment in the draft would be in the
UNDP programme where further details would be
provided on the schedule of courses and on the
activities under the project.
56. The draft of the next
major section on the work programme and resource
mobilization would also require some revision,
particularly in respect of the new initiatives.
On the financial status, the revenue indicated
was likely to increase by the time the report
was revised to take account of new contributions
and of countries that had not pledged at the
fifty-third session of the Commission.
The last section would contain the report on
the third session of the Governing Board, and
would essentially reflect the gist of the Board's
deliberations and recommendations.
57. The Governing Board recognized
that the draft report would have to be revised
to reflect the discussions at the third session,
and suggested that the revised draft be sent
to the members of the Governing Board in a way
that would give it at least 2-3 weeks to study
the document and make comments. One section
of the document which the Board felt would certainly
require strengthening was the third section
on key issues calling for action by the Commission
or brought to its attention. The Board felt
that that was an extremely important section
since it was through that part of the report
that the attention of the Commission could be
drawn to the work of the Governing Board.
The section provided the opportunity for the
Governing Board to signal to the Commission
what was important for SIAP and to call for
appropriate action and guidance by the Commission.
58. Under the third section,
the Governing Board suggested that an indication
should be provided to the Commission of the
difficulties being encountered by the Government
of Japan in maintaining its contribution to
SIAP at the prevailing level, and the implications
of the possible cutback in the contribution
to the work programme of SIAP. Another
important issue for the attention of the Commission
was that of seeking additional funding for SIAP
programme activities from non-traditional sources,
including private sector funded foundations,
taking care to inform the Commission that all
aspects of such endeavours from the viewpoint
of the financial rules and regulations of the
United Nations and the Government of Japan would
be ascertained prior to any action being taken.
59. The Board also suggested
that any specific responses by SIAP to recommendations
of the Commission or the Committee on Statistics
should go back to the Commission for information.
60. Regarding the issue of
including a list of SIAP alumni on its homepage,
the Governing Board suggested a reconsideration
since the list would not serve any useful purpose
unless the most current information on the whereabouts
of the past participants was provided.
In addition, even if the current information
was obtained, it would have to be updated continually,
and that would impose a burden on the scarce
resources of SIAP.
61. Regarding the second
section, the Board recommended that an introductory
paragraph should be added to explain and summarize
the initiatives undertaken by the Director since
the second session of the Governing Board.
That would enable the Commission to understand
better the new developments and to readily identify
the departures from past procedures. The
Board also suggested that the outreach programmes
of SIAP should be put under a separate heading
so that it could be examined easily by the Commission.
62. The Board drew attention
to recent developments in statistics in the
region, such as the proposed International Monetary
Fund training institute/facility in Singapore
for training in national accounts and balance
of payments, and the meeting of ASEAN (Association
of South East Asian Nations) heads of national
statistical offices. It was suggested
that SIAP should develop collaborative arrangements
with those institutions and take advantage of
the training materials developed for those initiatives
while drawing up its own training programmes.
SIAP could, given its wider membership, even
play a proactive role by providing bridging
services between those new initiatives and country
requirements.
63. The Board recommended
that SIAP and the Statistics Division of ESCAP
should take note of the training needs arising
from activities of the various "city groups"
established in recent years, which had focused
on one particular aspect of statistics in an
emerging field. Such an initiative would
also facilitate SIAP in the preparation of its
training programmes for the economies of the
region in new and challenging areas of statistics.
64. Lastly, with regard to
financial statements, the Governing Board recommended
that the various components should be presented
in a way that the distinction between its three
main sources of financial support, namely, the
institutional budget, the in-kind contribution
by the host government including JICA, and the
programme support of UNDP, were clearly seen.
While appreciating the difficulties in preparing
such statements, the Board advised that some
rethinking should be done on how the statements
were presented to the Commission, since the
lumping together of funds from all sources and
in-kind support was likely to give the false
impression that SIAP had access to a large funding
programme. The Board took the view that
presentation in a detailed and transparent manner
of the total resources of SIAP and their utilization,
although a difficult task, would enable better
appreciation of its rather delicate financial
foundation.
VII.
OTHER MATTERS
(Agenda item 9)
65. The Board decided that
its next regular session would be held at Bangkok
in 1998 for three working days immediately preceding
the session of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics.
Members of the Governing Board would be informed
of the dates after they were decided upon.
VIII.
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
(Agenda item 10)
66. The Governing Board adopted
the report of its third session on 16 October
1997. |
