Technical Assistance for the EU-ASEAN Statistical Capacity Building Programme (EASCAB)

Programme description

Title: Technical Assistance for the EU-ASEAN Statistical Capacity Building Programme (EASCAB)
Commissioned by: Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia
Financier: European Union (EU)
Country: Indonesia
Lead executing agency: ASEANstats (ASEAN Secretariat)
Overall term: 2009 to 2013

Indonesia. Conference „Building Knowledge in the ASEAN Community“. © GIZ

Context

The Member States of ASEAN aim to create a stable, prosperous, and competitive region, characterised by equitable economic development and low levels of socio-economic disparity. In order to achieve this they need, among other things, access to reliable information on the production of goods and provision of services, and on the movement of investments, capital and labour. Statistical data collection is a key instrument for monitoring, not only the region's economic development, but also the positioning of ASEAN as a part of the global economy. Since February 2009, therefore, the technical assistance team (TAT) has been working closely with the ASEAN Secretariat to promote the work of its statistics body, ASEANstats.

Objective

The progressive integration of the ASEAN region is enhanced by the collection of accurate and relevant statistics.

Approach

The project 'Technical assistance for the EU-ASEAN statistical capacity building programme' cooperates closely with the statistical service of the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEANstats, and with the national statistics offices of the ASEAN Member States, to improve the regional statistics reporting system. Moreover, the project also works with the national statistics offices to promote the development of a knowledge pool related to the ASEAN community, for example in areas such as economics, institutions, society and culture. It provides training courses and workshops to teach basic methodologies and international standards for data collection, and it supports the application of the 'ASEAN-helps-ASEAN' concept.

Indonesia. Workshop participants. © GIZ

The technical assistance is being delivered by a consortium consisting of GOPA Consultants, GIZ IS, Statistics Denmark, the National Institute of Statistics Romania, ICstat and Emprou s.a.r.l, all working on behalf of the Delegation of the EU.

Results achieved so far

  • The project has successfully organised a training course in international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS) for instructors and experts in the ASEAN Member States. This first course paves the way for the subsequent provision of three-day courses in IMTS at regional an national levels.
  • The ASEAN Secretariat is now initiating and coordinating a harmonisation process between the Member States in selected fields of statistics.
  • The Member States are now able to gather, process and disseminate better quality statistical information on trade, investment, healthcare and education.
  • ASEANstat is now able to collect and disseminate better quality statistics on the merchandise trade, the provision of services, and investments.
  • The work of the project has helped increase the availability of relevant data for trade and economic integration in the ASEAN region.
  • Using an interactive regional database, rapid information exchanges have become possible related to the merchandise trade, the provision of services, and investments.
  • It has become easier to compare international merchandise trade statistics across the ASEAN Member States.

Additional information