The 10^th Meeting of the Technical Committee of the Arab Statistics (ArabStat) Initiative was organised by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) on 8-9 November 2023. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the National Statistical Offices and financial authorities of the Fund’s member countries and other relevant international organisations. Dr. Atilla KARAMAN, Director of Statistics and Information, represented SESRIC thereat.

During the meeting, Dr. KARAMAN made presentations under the technical sessions on Environment Statistics and Green Economy, Food Security Statistics, and Human Capital Statistics. In the presentations, he briefed the participants on the position of the group of OIC countries under the respective themes, highlighting the efforts of SESRIC made under each theme with a view to enhancing Member Countries' mutual endeavors to improve their statistical capacities, and the possible future directions that can be followed to further strengthen these statistical capacities.

The Committee reviewed the progress achieved towards improving statistical capacity in the AMF member countries through the implementation of the current work plan and discussed the Initiative’s work plan for 2024. The Committee was also informed of the findings of the surveys conducted by the AMF in its member countries

The “Arabstat” Initiative, launched in early 2013, aims to assist the 22 member countries of the AMF to improve their national statistical systems through strengthening statistical capacity and to promote the implementation of internationally agreed standards, concepts, methods and frameworks for statistical activities. It also aims at promoting the dissemination of statistical information about the AMF’s member countries.

To carry out its mission effectively, “Arabstat” has two permanent bodies, namely, a Secretariat undertaken by AMF and the Steering Committee acting as an advisory body. The Steering Committee is composed of representatives of National Statistical Offices, Ministries of Finance, Central Banks and Monetary Agencies of Arab Countries. It also includes representatives of partner development institutions namely, Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), General Secretariat of the Arab League, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Statistical Center for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC-Stat), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Statistical Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and World Bank.

For more information, please visit: https://www.amf.org.ae/en/node/1243