COHESIVELY ENHANCING CAPACITY OF ASEAN COMMUNITY STATISTICAL SYSTEM TO BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO GREATER DATA NEEDS                                                                                                                                                                           CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE ASEAN COMMUNITY STATISTICAL SYSTEM

About the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS)

1.     History and development

The first ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting (AHSOM) was inaugurated on 10 October 1997, marking a historical milstone for a regional cooperation in statistics, kicking off a series of important events for ASEAN Statistics.

In 2000, the Statistics Unit was established at the ASEAN Secretariat. In 2001, AHSOM 3 adopted the first ASEAN Framework of Cooperation in Statistics. In 2002, the ASEAN statistical indicator system (ASI) was issued. In 2003, the ASEAN Task Forces on Statistics were established with the task of setting up medium-term statistical objectives to integrate into the Vientiane Action Program.

In 2007, AHSOM 8 adopted the establishment of the Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), the Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services (SITS), the ASEAN Statistical Yearbook, and organized the first workshop on National Accounts System. In 2010, the ASEAN Framework of Cooperation in Statistics (AFCS) 2010-2015 was adopted at the 17th ASEAN Summit, constituting the first step to strengthen the organizational framework and statistical capacity of ASEAN towards the establishment of an ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS) in 2015.

In August 2011, the ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices adopted the Strategic Plan for the Establishment of the ASEAN Community Statistical System (hereafter called the ACSS Strategic Plan) 2011-2015. The ACSS Committee was officially established in 2011, setting a new stage of development for ASEAN Statistics.

2.     ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS)

The ASEAN Framework of Cooperation in Statistics (2010-2015) defines the ACSS as the partnership between and among the national statistical systems of the ASEAN Member States (AMSs), the ASEAN Community Councils, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

The ACSS comprises:

-   ACSS Committee;

-   National statistical systems of all ASEAN Member States; 

-   ASEAN Secretariat through ASEANstats;

-   ASEAN Community Councils.

The national statistical authorities of the ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat, through its statistics section are engaged in partnership with all concerned ASEAN bodies and working groups and task forces under the three pillars of the ASEAN Community and together define the ASEAN Community Statistical System.

The ACSS Committee leads in building the ASEAN Community Statistical System by 2015 through the following:

-    Strengthening the capacity of national statistical systems and the ASEAN Secretariat;  

-    Improving comparability of ASEAN statistics;

-    Enhancing users-producers communication;

-    Establishing clearer mandate and appropriate institutional framework for ASEAN statistics; and

-    Supporting evidence-based decision making in a rules-based ASEAN Community.