The acting General Director of the Vietnam Statistics General Department, Do Thuc, told reporters that the 11^th ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting (AHSOM) will also draw partners from the United Nations (UNSD), the European Union (EUROSTAT), Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.

They aim to create common statistical indicators and common statistical database across the Association of Southeast Association Nations (ASEAN).

The contents will also be part of the joint statement to be adopted by a three-day ASEAN Summit scheduled to open in Hanoi on October 28 this year with Vietnam as its chair.

Also high on the meeting’s agenda is an evaluation of the EU-sponsored programme on statistic capacity building, cooperation with partners on solutions for finance and human resources development for the ASEAN statistical sector.
Thuc added that his agency with 65 years of experience, has played an active role in UN-sponsored programmes. It has worked closely with UN bodies, he said, citing the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Programme (UNFPA), the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Cooperation has also been expanded with other international organisations such as the EUROSTAT- a directorate for statistics in the European Commission, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the International Statistics Institute.

The Vietnam Statistics General Department (VSGD) has also taken the initiative to boost statistics-related operations within the ASEAN, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and East Asia.

The national statistics chief added that the statistics provided by Vietnam have been used when calculating the UN Millennium Development Goals and have been used and praised by international organisations.

The VSGD has discharged its duty as the national coordinator in the General Data Dissemination System under the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Thuc emphasised.