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Report of the High-level Meeting for Coordinated Implementation of International

Standards for Macroeconomic Statistics

Prepared by ESCAP Statistics Division

Vladivostok, Russian Federation

3-4 September 2014

I. Introduction

1. The High-level Meeting for Coordinated Implementation of International Standards for Macroeconomic Statistics was organized by the Economic and

Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Statistics Division and the

Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) within the

framework of the Regional Programme for the improvement of Economic

Statistics in Asia and the Pacific (RPES)1 and was held in Vladivostok, the

Russian Federation on 3-4 September 2014. The meeting was attended by high-

level officials from central banks, ministries of finance and national statistical

offices (NSO) of the following countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey,

Uzbekistan and Viet Nam. The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC),

International Monetary Fund (IMF), National Research University Higher School

of Economics and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) were the

organizations represented.

2. Alexander Surinov of the State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) chaired the meeting.

II. Organization of the meeting

3. The meeting was organized by ESCAP Statistics Division and Rosstat, in consultation with members of the Steering Group for the Regional Programme on

Economic Statistics in Asia and the Pacific. An Organizing Committee which

comprised the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), ESCAP, the Statistical

Office of the European Union (Eurostat), IMF, Rosstat, UNSD and the World

Bank was established to develop the substantive content of the meeting.

4. The meeting benefited from presentations by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), ESCAP, IMF, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and UNSD. There were

1 Please see the Programme brochure at http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/4.RPES-brochure-

English_2.pdf

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two panel discussions in Sessions 3 and 4, respectively. Session 4 also featured

group discussions around the implementation of international standards and the

improvement of the underlying economic statistics. It was also in this session that

countries and international organizations discussed how the proposed Vladivostok

Outcome Statement could be utilized to support implementation of international

standards at the national and international levels. In Session 5, the comments on

the Vladivostok Outcome Statement2 were incorporated and the revised text was

adopted with the possibility of sending further comments in the week following

the meeting.

5. The five sessions of the meeting were as follows:

Day 1 – Improving economic statistics to respond to changing policy needs

� Session 1: Background and premise of the High-level Meeting

� Session 2: Implications of changing economic policy environment on

macroeconomic statistics

� Session 3: Recent updates in the macroeconomic statistical frameworks and

their implementation at the national level

Day 2 –Accelerating implementation of macroeconomic statistical frameworks

� Session 4: Way forward for improving economic statistics

� Session 5: Vladivostok Outcome Statement and closing

6. The programme of the meeting is included in Annex II.

7. The evaluation report for the meeting is in Annex III.

III. Summary of the discussions and main conclusions

8. The summary of discussions and recommendations emanating from the meeting are given below. The Vladivostok Outcome Statement is in Annex I.

A. Session 1: Background and premise of the High-level Meeting

9. The opening remarks by the speakers emphasized the importance of having the main producers and users of economic statistics at the national level represented

in the meeting. The meeting’s objective was set as to enhance user-producer

dialogue in the production and dissemination of macroeconomic statistics with a

view to increasing political and financial support for the implementation of the

related international standards. It was also highlighted that the implementation of

these standards is inseparable from the improvement of the underlying basic

economic statistics.

2 Please see Annex I for the final version of the Vladivostok Outcome Statement.

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10. During the opening session the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, through a video statement, emphasized sound and comparable economic statistics for regional

economic integration and highlighted the important role of the Regional

Programme for the Improvement of Economic Statistics in Asia and the Pacific in

that regard.

B. Session 2: Implications of changing economic policy environment on macroeconomic statistics

11. This session was chaired by Yuriy Shokamanov of EEC with presentations on “Changing world economy and its implications for macroeconomic statistics” by

Robert Dippelsman of the IMF and on “Coherent macroeconomic statistics for

coherent policies” by Aycan Ozek of CBRT. The presentations were followed by

a session on Spotlight on Country Experiences which was organized as a panel

discussion that was triggered by two country presentations on “Experiences as

users of macroeconomic indicators” by the Ministry of Finance of Mongolia and

on the “Experience of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the

formation of external sector statistics and the transition to BPM6”. In addition to

Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on

Statistics and EEC participated as panelists in the discussion that was moderated

by Rikke M. Hansen of ESCAP.

12. The country interventions focused on the implementation of international standards and national plans for the improvement of economic statistics. During

the panel discussion, the importance of meaningful dialogue with users on

statistics development, and the value of statistics for regional economic

integration were emphasized.

13. During the plenary discussion, the importance of having further disaggregated data for policy makers was highlighted. The fact that macroeconomic aggregates

do not give information on the distribution of income, consumption and wealth

among different sub-populations was emphasized and the importance of further

integration of economic and social statistics was indicated. In this context, the

disaggregation of European statistics by NUTS (Nomenclature of territorial units

for statistics) and the elaboration of regional accounts by the Russian Federation

were highlighted as important practices. It was also confirmed that confidentiality

concerns that would arise by such disaggregation could be addressed by ensuring

that the resulting statistics would be aggregates for appropriate-size geographical

areas, classification level, groups of populations or urban/rural. When sensitive

data is shared among agencies protocols should be signed to protect

confidentiality (even if it is for single production). In Kazakhstan, for instance,

confidentiality violations have serious repercussions.

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14. Another point that was emphasized for coherence of macroeconomic statistics was the involvement of ministries of finance —especially for the transition to

accrual accounting across the national statistical system. In general, participants

agreed that collaboration between national statistical offices and central banks

was quite advanced whereas the involvement of ministries of finance in statistical

planning and consultations was more challenging and in need of improvement.

C. Session 3: Recent updates in the macroeconomic statistical frameworks and their implementation at the national level

15. Session 3 was chaired by Andrey Tatarinov of Rosstat. Presentations were given on the “System of National Accounts and the integrated statistics approach” by

Benson Sim of UNSD; on “Activities aimed at improving macroeconomic

statistics” by Batjargal Badamtsetseg of the National Statistical Office of

Mongolia; and on “Updates of Statistical Frameworks” by Robert Dippelsman of

the IMF.

16. During the plenary discussion, it was emphasized that the United States of America; Australia; Hong Kong, China; and Mexico were among the relatively

few countries that have implemented the 2008 SNA. Currently, the international

statistical community is addressing issues related to the measurement of financial

intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), global production, holding

companies and special purpose entities. The next update of the SNA is some years

ahead.

17. In terms of improving macroeconomic statistics and implementing the revised standards, the Mongolian approach of having a comprehensive matrix covering

areas of improvement, user needs and steps to be taken together with partners and

resources was recommended. The national statistical offices cannot undertake this

implementation process alone and the ministry of finance, especially, needs to be

involved. In terms of national coordination, it was mentioned that the list of

institutional units should be prepared by a formalized committee including all

stakeholders.

18. In the case of the Russian Federation, the coordination between Rosstat and the Central Bank of Russia was assessed by Rosstat and the Central Bank as good.

The Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Finance and Rosstat have

approved a long-term plan for developing national accounts of the Russian

Federation. The plan also allows for other line ministries to engage, e.g. Ministry

of the Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry

of Health on incremental basis. IMF has also been helpful for bridging the

different national agencies and for expanding the national programme, mobilizing

resources and monitoring the implementation of international standards in the

Russian Federation.

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19. In the case of Turkey, cooperation among agencies of the national statistical system is legislated and programmed. The Statistical Law delineates the

responsibilities of the different institutions, with the 5-year official programme of

statistics elaborating those responsibilities. Currently the second 5 year official

programme is under implementation. According this programme, CBRT is

responsible for the balance of payments, international investment position and

monetary and financial statistics and financial accounts. Bridge tables have been

developed to facilitate coordination, e.g. between government finance statistics

and financial accounts.

20. The discussions highlighted that national statistical offices should take the lead in coordinating the production of macroeconomic accounts. Working groups on

specific theoretical issues should be established at the international level. When it

comes to ministries, statistics is generally considered a back-office job. Hence,

there is a need for creating awareness of statistics at the top management level.

21. For the users, Kazakhstan’s experience in educating their users was praised. It was also highlighted that advance notice on any revisions of statistics, including

the changeover to the new standards such as the 2008 SNA is appreciated by

users. Teaching statistics in the regular curriculum of high schools was also raised

as a possible good practice to increase statistical literacy among users.

22. In terms of what international organizations can do, more guidance and advocacy for implementing the integrated approach was mentioned as an area of support.

However, to address the practical issues related to implementation, it is important

that countries take the lead in developing a national strategy to organize the

improvement of economic statistics and the implementation of international

standards. The role of international organizations such as ILO, IMF and the UN in

the harmonization of statistical methodologies across countries was emphasized.

When it comes to supranational organizations, it was highlighted that the

statistical engagement should be on harmonization and sharing information

among member countries.

D. Session 4: Way forward for improving economic statistics

23. Session 4 was chaired by Rikke M. Hansen of ESCAP Statistics Division and the trigger presentation was given by Zeynep Orhun Girard of ESCAP Statistics

Division on “Ensuring sustainable production of quality macroeconomic statistics:

A regional perspective”. This presentation paved the way for the following panel

discussion on “Planning and financing the improvement of economic statistics”

moderated by Robert Dippelsman of IMF. The panelists in this discussion were

representatives of the Central Statistics Organization of Afghanistan, the Central

Bank of Armenia, the Ministry of Finance and the State Statistical Committee of

Azerbaijan, the National Bank of Tajikistan, the General Statistics Office of Viet

Nam and UNSD.

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24. During the panel discussion the following ideas were raised. • To bring about the improvements in macroeconomic statistics, effective

coordination and communication (both formal and informal) with users as

well as with various concerned ministries and government agencies needs

to be ensured.

• Planning serves as an effective tool for improvement that helps to identify

problems, set priorities and delineate actions. In addition, using plans as

communication tools can raise awareness and galvanize political

commitment in support of future actions.

• Work programmes for the entire national statistical system and

memoranda of understanding among agencies are essential for

coordination.

• NSOs should have operational independence, free from political pressure.

• Advocacy efforts are needed to entice decision makers to increase regular

government funding for statistics.

• There is need for infrastructure- and skills-building at the national level in

order to enable the implementation of international standards. Country-to-

country learning and the establishment of networks of experts and

practitioners are effective modalities for this.

• Coordination among international organizations is as important as

coordination at the national statistical system level.

• Countries should regularly update the international organizations on their

plans and developments.

25. Following the panel discussion, four groups were formed for the break-out session:

• Group 1: Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia and Viet Nam

• Group 2: Armenia, the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

• Group 3: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

• Group 4: International organizations

26. When the groups reported back to the plenary the following points were raised

based on the questions given earlier to the participants:

• How to implement international standards and move towards an integrated

statistical production system (in the context of the implementation of

macroeconomic statistical frameworks)?

i. A high-level statistical committee comprising the key agencies should be established with the legal basis to plan, coordinate,

implement and assign roles and responsibilities in strategy

implementation.

ii. Under the high-level committee there should be a technical group in charge of:

a) Implementing the strategy or policy adopted by the Committee;

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b) Developing links between macroeconomic statistics

(Bridge Tables);

c) Training staff and promoting newly adopted standards; d) Developing manuals/methodologies and translation; e) Classification and interpretation of standards and manuals.

• How to convince decision makers outside NSS on the need for reforms?

i. Use high-level statistical committee; ii. Establish public awareness and education programmes (including

mass media and academia);

iii. Use international organizations to foster coordination at the national level (arrange meetings with key policy

makers/parliamentarians, refer to country comparisons, regional

and international initiatives (SDDS plus, G20 data gap), and

related recommendations).

• How can we rally support for coordinating the implementation of

macroeconomic standards?

i. Under the high-level committee there should be an advocacy group.

• What role can national and international agencies play?

i. The discussion on areas where international organizations can add value to national improvement processes highlighted the power of

reference provided by international standards, norms and

guidelines of which international organizations are custodians.

ii. It was stressed that moving from intention to action can only happen at the national level and the national statistical offices are

the coordinators. The Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

(FPOS) guide all parts of the national statistical system and the

main coordination tools are the statistical law, formal agreements,

annual and multi-year plans, formal working groups with clear

TORs and records of decisions made. In this context, the

independence of NSOs is key and consultations with users beyond

government agencies in planning and organizing production and

dissemination of statistics ensures relevance. Modernization of

statistical production systems is important to free up resources for

new undertakings.

iii. International organizations can help with assessments and reviews, selection of strategy, knowledge sharing among countries,

including pairing a resource country with a country with a less

developed national statistical system, providing training and

consultancy and financial/political support. National Strategies for

the Development Statistics are the main tool for coordination

among international organizations at the country level. Priorities

should be set according to national circumstances and in line with

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global standards to do what makes sense for a country at a given

point in time to improve availability and quality of economic

statistics.

E. Session 5: Vladivostok Outcome Statement and closing

27. Session 5 was chaired by Alexander Surinov of Rosstat. The session recorded comments of participants for incorporation into the revised version of the

Vladivostok Outcome Statement. The final version of the Statement, including

concrete actions for the national and international agencies, is in Annex I.

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Annex I. Vladivostok Outcome Statement

VLADIVOSTOK OUTCOME STATEMENT

We, the participants of the High-level Meeting for Coordinated Implementation of

International Standards for Macroeconomic Statistics, held in Vladivostok, the Russian

Federation, from 3 to 4 September 2014,

Considering the need for integrated economic statistics to allow decision makers and

other users to monitor and assess progress, such as towards national and

internationally agreed development goals,

Recognizing the need in this regard for the coordinated implementation of

international standards for macroeconomic statistics, especially the System of

National Accounts, Balance of Payments and International Investment Position

Government Finance Statistics and Monetary and Financial Statistics, to ensure

efficiency and consistency in the production and dissemination of sound and up-to-

date macroeconomic statistics and in response to current and emerging policy

needs,

Agree to advocate for the development of an integrated statistics approach to

facilitate the coordinated implementation of the international standards for

macroeconomic statistics in our respective countries, including the

strengthening of the statistical production process through enhanced

national coordination among all stakeholders, including the central bank,

treasury and ministry of finance in the national statistical system through

mechanisms such as national plans delineating roles and responsibilities of

all official statistics producers and formal interagency working groups

complemented by protocols. We recognize that the national statistical office

is the overall coordinator of the national statistical system and that statistical

production and dissemination by all statistical institutions should adhere to

the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. We agree

that increased efforts and resources are needed to better reflect the

perspective of the users (government agencies, private sector, academia,

media, general public, etc.) in priority setting, planning and, data production

and dissemination for macroeconomic statistics.

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Supporting the strategic goals of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics including the

improvement of economic statistics,

Recalling the Core Set of Economic Statistics for the Regional Programme for the

improvement of Economic Statistics, adopted by the ESCAP Commission in its

Resolution 67/10 and recognizing the value added of the Regional Programme and

the Core Set in setting national priorities for strengthening underlying economic

statistics for the implementation of the 2008 SNA and other macroeconomic

statistical frameworks, and in enhancing national efforts for the development of

basic economic statistics through advocacy, knowledge sharing, resource

mobilization and providing a platform for coordination of technical cooperation

efforts,

Decide to work actively towards mobilizing in-country and international

resources and investment for the implementation of the above-mentioned

international standards and the improvement of source data. We recognize in

this regard that user-producer dialogues are critical to creating sustained

demand for statistics among decision makers and hence to attracting the

necessary resources. We also recognize that country-to-country exchange is

an effective tool for enhancing national capacities.

Agree that in order to move from intention to action countries must lead and

own the process of improving economic statistics and implementing the

related international standards and in that regard have a responsibility to

facilitate coordinated support by development partners using the national

strategies for the development of statistics to communicate and manage the

type and timing of external support.

Agree, as development partners, to enhance the coordination of technical

cooperation efforts, in accordance with current mandates and governance

structures, such as through periodic global assessments of national statistical

systems in order to support countries in the coordinated implementation of

up-to-date international standards for macroeconomic statistics including

the development of underlying basic statistics.

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Annex II. Annotated Programme of the High-level Meeting

DAY 1 –IMPROVING ECONOMIC STATISTICS TO RESPOND TO CHANGING POLICY NEEDS

Time Topic Presenter / Chair/Moderator

08:30 – 09:00 Registration

Session 1: Background and premise of the High-level Meeting Chair of the Meeting

09:00 – 09:45

Welcome and opening speeches by the organizers

The speeches in this session will set the scene for the event and will link the

High-level Meeting with ongoing global and regional initiatives that are

focused on improving economic statistics.

Mr Vladimir Miklushevsky

Governor of Primorsky Krai

Russian Federation

Mr Alexander Surinov

Head, Federal State Statistics

Service of the Russian

Federation

Ms Rikke M. Hansen

Chief, Economic and

Environment Statistics Section,

ESCAP Statistics Division

09:45 – 10:30 Group photo and the Press conference

Coffee/Tea break

Session 2: Implications of changing policy environment on macroeconomic statistics Chaired by

Mr Yuriy Shokamanov

Director, Department of

Statistics, Eurasian Economic

Commission

10:30 – 11:00 Changing world economy and its implications for macroeconomic statistics

This presentation will give an overview of the major turning points for the world

economy over the past decade and changed requirements for macroeconomic

statistics with a focus on the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative.

Mr Robert Dippelsman

Deputy Director, Real Sector

Division, IMF Statistics

Department

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11:00 – 11:30 Coherent macroeconomic statistics for coherent policies

This presentation will highlight the integrated nature of the existing

macroeconomic statistical frameworks (especially of the Balance of Payments

and International Investment Position and the Government Finance Statistics

with respect to the System of National Accounts but also of Monetary and

Financial Statistics), and how they interplay in order depict a coherent picture of

the economic environment while serving specific policy needs.

Ms Aycan Ozek

Deputy Director, Monetary and

Financial Statistics Division,

Central Bank of Republic of

Turkey

11:30 – 13:00 Spotlight on Country Experiences, Panel Discussion

The representatives of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of

Finance of Mongolia will be invited to present their national experiences as

users of macroeconomic indicators. The presentations will be followed by a

panel discussion. The panelists will act as discussants of the presentations given

in Session 2.

After the panel discussion the floor will be opened for a plenary discussion on

the entire session and the Session Chair will provide his summary.

Possible questions to be discussed in light of the presentations:

Where are the observed gaps between economic statistics and the

economy?

What are the main areas for improvement for macroeconomic

statistics in order to respond better to the policy needs, e.g. where

are the gaps, shortcomings?

How can we take users’ needs better into account in the production

and dissemination of macroeconomic statistics?

Panelists: Representatives of the

National Bank of Kazakhstan,

Ministry of Finance of

Mongolia, the State Committee

of the Republic of Uzbekistan

on Statistics, the Eurasian

Economic Commission

Moderator:

Ms Rikke M. Hansen

Chief, Economic and

Environment Statistics Section,

ESCAP Statistics Division

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

Session 3: Recent updates in the macroeconomic statistical frameworks and their

implementation at the national level Chaired by

Mr Andrey Tatarinov

Director, National Accounts

Department, Federal State

Statistics Service of the Russian

Federation

14:00 – 14:40 The System of National Accounts and the implementation of integrated

economic statistics

In this presentation, the current version of the System of National Accounts

(2008 SNA) will be presented as the main integrating framework for all

economic statistics along with the implementation challenges related to global

production, financial services, etc. The presentation will also make the case for

an integrated approach to the statistical production process, with a special

focus on improving the institutional environment including the national

statistical offices, central banks and ministries of finance and the underlying

basic statistics for the compilation of national accounts giving examples from

the participating countries when possible.

Mr Benson Sim

Statistician, National Accounts

Section, UNSD

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14:40 – 15:20 Spotlight on Country Experiences

Mongolia will be invited to present their experience in reforming their

institutional environment and data production processes in order to improve

quality of their statistics with a focus on macroeconomic statistics.

Ms Badamtsetseg Batjargal

Senior Vice Chairperson,

National Statistical Office of

Mongolia

15:20 – 15:40 Coffee/Tea break

15:40 – 16:20 Balance of Payments and International Investment Position and, Government

Finance Statistics: progress made and challenges ahead

The latest revisions of the international standards pertaining to balance of

payments and government finance statistics (BPM6 and GFS 2014) have led to

further conceptual and methodological harmonization of these guidelines with

the SNA. However, technical and practical challenges remain in the full

implementation of these standards in the participating countries. This

presentation will give the status of balance of payments and government

finance statistics and will touch upon the next steps for the participating

countries to reach desired levels of implementation.

Mr Robert Dippelsman

Deputy Director, Real Sector

Division, IMF Statistics

Department

16:20 – 17:30 Discussion and Session Chair’s summary

Possible questions to be discussed in light of the presentations:

What are the hindrances and opportunities for the full

implementation of international standards for macroeconomic

statistics?

How can we identify the changes needed for a more enabling

institutional set-up to produce relevant and coherent

macroeconomic statistics?

How do we mitigate risks, from the point of view of statisticians and

policy makers that come with major methodological revisions to

macroeconomic statistics?

How can national statistical offices, as coordinators of national

statistical systems better support and ensure the improvement of

economic statistics?

Chaired by

Mr Andrey Tatarinov

Director, National Accounts

Department, Federal State

Statistics Service of the Russian

Federation

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Annex III. Evaluation Results of the High-level Meeting

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING FOR COORDINATED

IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR

MACROECONOMIC STATISTICS

VLADIVOSTOK, 3-4 SEPTEMBER 2014

EVALUATION FORM

To help us assess the effectiveness of this meeting and improve in the future, please complete and

return this questionnaire. Thank you.

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPLETED EVALUATION FORMS IS 34.

I. Organization of meeting:

Too short Adequate Too long

1. Duration of the meeting 4 30 0

2. Please rate the following aspects of the meeting:

2.1 Preparations by ESCAP secretariat and Rosstat

Poor Adequate Very good

2.1.a Meeting facilities 0 7 27

2.1.b Logistics (travel, hotel arrangements) 3 16 15

2.2 Documents

2.2.a Time distribution 0 16 18

2.2.b Comprehensiveness 0 18 16

2.3 Has the meeting achieved its objectives? (No response: 1)

Yes No

33 0

II. Content of meeting:

3. Which session(s) did you find most

useful and effective? (Please select as many

as applicable) Yes No Please provide your comments

Session 1 (No response: 11)

Background and premise of the High-level

Meeting

23 0

It was a very important session.

Session 2 (No response: 4)

Implications of changing economic policy

environment on macroeconomic statistics

30 0 Great presentations delivered by the Central

Bank of Turkey and the Mongolian NSO.

Session 3 (No response: 3)

Recent updates in the macroeconomic 29 2

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statistical frameworks and their

implementation at the national level

Session 4 (No response: 5)

Way forward for improving economic

statistics

29 0

Yes No Please provide your comments

Session 5 (No response: 5)

Vladivostok Outcome Statement and

closing

28 1 Should give clear directions to teams.

4. Do you have any additional comments or suggestions for the improvement of this meeting?

- More social programme after the meeting (such as a city tour) can be organized.

- Everything was excellent.

- The organizer must be more selective in meeting venues because Vladivostok is very far

from every participating country.

- The organizer should focus on the comfort of the participant as well and not restrict

resources or limit logistical facilities. Also during travel if there is a stopover longer than 8

hours the airline should be informed to take care of the participants.

- Hotel accommodation: we did not use hot water in the hotel, because it is not good. It has

yellow color and is dirty.

- Other things are good. Thank you very much for organizing a useful meeting.