The First Session of the ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee (ACSS1), hosted by the BPS-Statistics Indonesia, was held on 2 to 3 November 2011 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Dr. Suryamin, First Secretary, BPS-Statistics Indonesia, presided over the Session.

The ACSS1 was held  with a clearer mandate to define ASEAN statistical priorities and promote wider use of regional statistics, promote improvement of statistical infrastructure, facilitate human resource and institutional capacity building and to enhance institutional linkages with international statistical bodies.

There were 3 key contents noted in the Joint Media Statement of the ACSS: (1) Institutional Strengthening: ACSS approved the establishment of the Planning and Coordination Sub-Committee of the ACSS Committee and the adoption of the Rules of Procedure. These are prerequisites for the effective functioning of the ACSS Committee. In support of the monitoring and implementation of the ASEAN Roadmap on the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the ACSS worked to establish a sustainable mechanism of updating MDG data in close cooperation with the Member States' national MDG focal point and national statistical system. The ACSS adopted the Multi-Year Action Plan in addition to the Annual Work Plan of the ACSS Committee including their planning cycle. This would allow the Member States to incorporate the regional priority in the planning and budgeting of their statistical activities; (2) Strengthening ASEAN Statistics: The ASEAN Statistical Indicators (ASI) as a statistical framework and a coordination mechanism in the development and harmonization of ASEAN statistics. ASI covers a wide range of indicators and sub-domain of statistics that ensures the relevance of the outputs of the ACSS Committee with the ASEAN initiatives. At the same time, it lends support to the global and regional initiatives on the improvement of social and economic statistics. The Committee continued to progress in the harmonization of key economic statistics such as those on international merchandise trade, international trade in services, foreign direct investments, and manufacturing, and recognized the importance of better communication of ASEAN statistics to the stakeholders; (3) Capacity Building and Strengthening Partnership: The ACSS Committee was encouraged by the increasing interest of their development partners, relevant international organizations and dialogue partner countries in strengthening statistical cooperation and promoting capacity building. The Committee was confident that they could expedite the establishment of the ASEAN Community Statistical System by 2015. ASEAN Member States (AMSs) are committed to the implementation of the ASEAN Framework of Cooperation in Statistics.

Also at the Meeting, the ACSS Committee appreciated their strong partnership with development partners, relevant international organizations and dialogue partner countries. In particular, the support of the EU-ASEAN Statistical Capacity Building (EASCAB) Program in the strengthening of institutional framework and statistical capacity in a number of fields of statistics.

At the end of the Meeting, the ACSS Committee expressed their deep appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, through the BPS-Statistics Indonesia, for the excellent leadership, meeting arrangements and facilitation, as well as for the warm hospitality accorded to them during the ACSS Committee First Session. At the same time, with the Committee welcomed the confirmation of the National Institute of Statistics Cambodia to host the ACSS Committee Second Session in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in September 2012.