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News Bulletin
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
40th Anniversary Celebration of United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP)
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of SIAP, a celebration ceremony was held on August 31, 2010 at the United Nations University in Tokyo. In total, around 150 participants attended the ceremony, including heads of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) from 30 countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) region, delegates of United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asia Development Bank (ADB), as well as representatives of embassies in Japan, members of the Statistics Commission in Japan.
Since its establishment in 1970, SIAP has strengthened, through practice-oriented training on official statistics, the capacity of NSOs in the ESCAP region to produce, disseminate and analyze statistical data. During last 40 years, SIAP has trained around 12,000 participants from 124 countries/territories. Some of the former participants became heads of NSOs, such as in Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines and Thailand.
The Government of Japan has provided financial contributions and administrative support and cooperation, including staff services and building space to SIAP through the Office of the Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). This is based on the agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Japan. Statistics Bureau of Japan (SBJ), MIC also has been providing specialists as guest lecturers for SIAP training courses in Japan.
The Anniversary Ceremony commenced with a video viewing describing the future direction for SIAP. The video was followed by the Opening Statement by Ms. Davaasuren Chultemjamts, Director of SIAP. She expressed her appreciation to MIC, the Government of Japan for its generosity in assisting SIAP. She also stated that SIAP not only provides and coordinates high quality training services but also functions as the centre of a network for statistical training, and represents the region's interest by taking an active role in the global development of official statistics.
In the ceremony, Mr. Kazuhiro Haraguchi, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications*), delivered a congratulatory message. The minister expressed his admiration for the achievements of SIAP and emphasized the importance of official statistics by quoting a statement by Mr. Shigenobu Okuma, the first Director-General of Government Department of Statistics in Japan. He also stated that it is necessary for every country to support and collaborate with SIAP. Furthermore, the following guests also gave congratulatory speeches: Mr. Paul Cheung, Director, UNSD, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Ms. Carmelita N. Ericta, head of the National Statistics Office, Philippines on behalf of SIAP Alumni.
At the following reception hosted by the minister, the heads of NSOs took advantage of the precious opportunity for exchanging views and renewing friendship.
*) Title at the time of the Ceremony.
SIAP 40th anniversary ceremony
Mr. Kazuhiro Haraguchi, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
In conjunction with the celebration of the 40th Anniversary, the Ninth Management Seminar for the Heads of NSOs in Asia and the Pacific was convened from August 31 to September 2, 2010. Under the theme of "Paving New Direction in Official Statistics: The Role of Heads of NSOs", Mr. Hiroshi Ikegawa, Director-General for Policy Planning (Statistical Standards), delivered welcome remarks in the beginning of the opening session, and Mr. Shigeru Kawasaki, Director-General of SBJ, exchanged his views and contributed to the discussion as a panelist.
