Ashgabat, 10-11 December 2018

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with Eurostat, organized a two-day regional seminar on foreign trade statistics. The seminar provided an opportunity for national statistical agencies from the region of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to familiarize with international recommendations in the field of international trade statistics, as well as share experiences and learn from each other.

The event is held in the framework of a joint project of UNDP and the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan " Support to Improvement of the Foreign Trade Statistics in Turkmenistan".

The seminar was organized to present the experience of Turkmenistan in improving statistics on foreign trade and the use of EUROTRACE. During the meeting, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the advantages of using EUROTRACE for preparing statistical reports on international trade in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

“Official statistics are of fundamental importance for the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the fulfillment of its main obligation “leave no one behind”. National statistical offices play a key role in producing high-quality data needed for policy development and decision making” noted Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Trade and Economic Relations and the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, as well as members of the UN Statistics Division and the UN Economic Commission, international experts in foreign trade statistics, and specialists of national statistical agencies and departments from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

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The project “Support for the improvement of foreign trade statistics of Turkmenistan” is aimed at strengthening capacity of the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan to produce quality data on foreign trade statistics, including enhancing institutional capacity and cooperation for compilation of high-quality foreign trade statistics in line with international standards, as well as establishing and piloting methodology for estimating unrecorded imports of consumer goods.

During the project implementation, UNDP closely cooperated and coordinated its activities with other international organizations who work in the area of international trade statistics, such as Eurostat, UN Statistical Division, UNECE, UNCTAD.