The 6th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting or AHSOM 6 will be held on August 16 and 17 at the Century Park Hotel, Manila.

The ASEAN member countries, comprising of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam through the initiative of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, created the AHSOM to exchange views on recent developments in official statistics, discuss progress of regional cooperation initiatives, and explore ways to further promote harmonization and development of statistics as well as to facilitate capacity building.

This year’s meeting will focus on the following subject matters: a) Support for ASEAN Initiatives, Planning and Policy-making; b) Review of the ASEAN Statistical Indicators: Gaps and Capacity Building Issues; c) ASEAN Statistical Yearbook Review: Coverage and timeliness Issues; d) Harmonization of Statistics: Statistical Classifications and Harmonization of Industrial and Commercial Statistics; e) Adoption of International Good Practices; f) Capacity Building and Human Resource Development; g) PARIS 21 Initiatives on Preparation of National Strategies for Development of Statistics (NSDS) and h) Other Initiatives on ASEAN Statistics and Indicators.

Aside from the AHSOM members, officials from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and heads of other national statistical offices will be attending the meeting. For the Philippines, Dr. Romulo A. Virola, Secretary General of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and Ms. Carmelita N. Ericta, Administrator of the National Statistics Office (NSO) will attend the meeting.

Inquiries on AHSOM 6 can be directed to the NSO thru Dir. Estela de Guzman at tel. nos. (632) 715-6505 and (632) 713-7071 or email address e.deGuzman@census.gov.ph.