PSA Participates in the Fifth Statistics and Database Working Group and the Ninth BIMP-EAGA Trade and Investment Facilitation Center Meetings

On 13 October 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) led by Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa participated in the Fifth Meeting of the Statistics and Database Working Group (SDWG) of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). The virtual meeting officially signaled the transfer of Chairmanship of the Working Group from the Philippines to Brunei Darussalam.

In his opening statement, Usec. Mapa stated that the SDWG made remarkable progress despite the challenge of COVID-19. He recounted the outputs achieved by the SDWG which contributed to the statistical development of the sub-region. As his Chairmanship ended, he assured that the Philippines will continuously give its unwavering support to all the WG initiatives.

The meeting paved the way for the discussion of topics such as the updates on the Core Indicator System (CIS), Proposal of the Agro-Industry Working Group, Statistical Information Brief (SIB), BIMP-EAGA Statistical Website, and BIMP-EAGA Vision (BEV) 2025 Medium Term Review.

Director Benjamin Arsenio Y. Navarro gave a background and provided updates on the CIS. In 2019, the SDWG conducted a series of discussions to come up with the initial list of core indicators. In 2020, the SDWG presented the indicators to each of the sectoral clusters and updated the list as needed. In 2021, the SDWG carried out an assessment on the data availability and consistency of the indicators across member-states. In 2022, the Mid-Term Review Consultant of the Asian Development Bank provided inputs to the CIS which led to an updated list of indicators which were again presented to the clusters for a second round of consultations. To date, the CIS consists of 82 indicators.

The Philippines was requested to continue this flagship activity and work on its metadata. During the meeting, it was underscored that the indicator system complements the SIB in support of sector performance assessment. To move the work forward, the member-countries were enjoined to commit to the data requirements.

Meanwhile, the 9^th Trade and Investment Facilitation Cluster (TIFC) Meeting was held on 11 October 2022 in Bogor, Indonesia. It was attended in-person by the delegates from the BIMP-EAGA members. The PSA was represented by Regional Director Atty. Maqtahar L. Manulon, and Ms. Vannesa A. Abarquez from the Office of the National Statistician.

The discussion centered on the presentation on the Agreements from the Ninth Small and Medium Enterprises Development Working Group Meeting; Agreements from the 16th Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security Working Group Meeting; CIS; BEV2025 Midterm Review; and Convergence Initiatives.

The SDWG, represented by Atty. Manulon, updated the TIFC on the BIMP-EAGA CIS. He said that the SDWG initiated its development to provide an effective tool for the monitoring, evaluation, and analysis of the performance of the eight sectors/clusters under the BIMP-EAGA (BEV) 2025. He then described how it evolved from 2019 to 2022.

The cluster sees greater role of SDWG in the EAGA cooperation especially with the planned elevation of CIQS into a full cluster where port-to-port data has been a challenge and some statistical concept and definitions need to be harmonized.

The next TIFC meeting will be hosted by Malaysia.

Kudos to the team working behind the SDWG!

- Office of the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

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