The Third Session of the ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee (ACSS3) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 10-12 September 2013 towards meeting the statistical requirements of the ASEAN Community through improved data availability, quality, and effective dissemination and communication of statistics, and addressing new challenges and demands beyond 2015. The three-day Meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Haji Abd Amin bin Hj Hashim, Acting Director General of the Department of Economic Planning and Development of the Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam and Ms. Marlar Aung, Deputy Director General of Central Statistical Organization of Myanmar. Attending this event were the Heads of the National Statistical Systems of the ASEAN Member States and their delegates, the ASEANStats, and representatives from international organizations and Dialogue Partner Countries.

The ACSS3 reached major milestones on statistics. The ACSS Committee pre-announced the release of the second issue of the ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) 2012 on 17 September 2013. The Committee was also successful in the implementation of the pilot model of Community Mission-Based Dissemination. To facilitate statistical dissemination and sharing of data, the ACSS Committee adopted the Policies and Guidelines on Data Sharing, Confidentiality, Dissemination and Communication of Statistics. This set of policies and guidelines will help the AMSs and the ASEAN Secretariat to promote wider accessibility to ASEAN statistics, enhance ASEAN statistics’ credibility and gain public trust in ASEAN statistics.

At the Meeting, the Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (TFIMTS) was transformed to a Working Group on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (WGIMTS), and the Task Force on Statistics on International Trade in Services (TFSITS) to a Working Group on Statistics on International Trade in Services (WGSITS) to facilitate the development and harmonization of trade in goods and trade in services statistics.

The ACSS Committee adopted its revised Annual Work Plan (AWP) 2013, Revised AWP 2014 and Revised Indicative AWP 2015 to include additional activities aimed at further strengthening the production, dissemination, and quality of ASEAN statistics. The Committee has also expanded the list of ASEAN Statistical Indicators (ASI) to better respond to the ASEAN Community statistical requirements, and is working on its implementation roadmap.

The Heads of the National Statistical Systems of the ASEAN Member States agreed on the direction of the ASEAN statistics future development to ensure their relevance to ASEAN Community and at the same time to contribute to the statistical development at the global and regional levels. Along this line the Committee adopted the outcomes of the Mid-Term Review of the ACSS Multi-Year Action Plan 2011-2015 and discussed draft ACSS Strategic Plan 2016-2020 as well as draft ASEAN Communication Strategy.

At the end of the Meeting, the ACSS Committee expressed its deep appreciation to the Government of Brunei Darussalam, through the Department of Economic Planning and Development, for the excellent leadership, meeting arrangements and facilitation, as well as for the warm hospitality accorded during the Third Session of the ACSS Committee. At the same time, the Committee appreciated the confirmation by the Central Statistical Organization of Myanmar to host and chair the Fourth Session of the ACSS Committee in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in September 2014.