The Ministry of Planning will form an inter-ministerial statistics steering committee in order to compile reliable statistics on the country’s socio-economic condition, said ministry Secretary of State Lay Prahas.
The steering committee will be established by late February with representatives from the ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Finance including the customs department and the National Bank of Cambodia, Lay Prahas said Sunday. Planning Minister Chhay Than will chair the steering committee, which will include sub-committees on foreign trade and national accounts.
“Because of lack of funds, statistics have been neglected for years,” Lay Prahas said. “But statistics are very important for the government to formulate policy and strategy.”
The three-year project is aimed at developing accurate statistics on a range of topics including industry, socio-economic status, the national treasury’s balance of payments and foreign trade. The Asian Development Bank will provide technical assistance in the collection and compiling of data, Lay Prahas said.
Technical assistance also will include training to help improve the capacity of statistics department staff in various ministries and local field offices.
The National Bank also has a visiting statistics technical adviser from the International Monetary Fund to assist in compiling good balance of payment statistics. Chandrakant Patel is here for a 10-day mission until Thursday.
“It will be crucial for all the statistics-related offices at various ministries to improve statistics nationwide,” Lay Pharas said. “We are confident that with ADB assistance we will be able to generate credible data on socio-economic situations in a timely manner.”