Forum to convene biannually

‘Stats very significant’

RIYADH, March 22, (KUNA): The GCC statistics forum will be held once every two years, according to a consensus reached during the first seminar held at this level that concluded in the Saudi capital on Wednesday.

Participants in the forum issued 14 recommendations at conclusion session of the first GCC statistics’ forum. They agreed “on the necessity” to hold the forum once every two years to assess progress in the sector. The next session would be held in Muscat, Oman, March 2019, according to the forum statements.

They recommended boosting cooperation among users and producers of statistics at the local, regional and international levels, ensuring employment of latest innovation, exchanging expertise, examining prospects of partnership between the public and private sectors, updating new sources for data and boosting cooperation with the academic communities in the GCC countries.

Earlier Wednesday, Othman AlOthman, the acting general director of the Kuwaiti statistics department, told KUNA on the forum sidelines that statistics has become quite significant in shadow of “economic transformation in the regional states.”

“The revolution of data and information is a new issue that warrants frameworks and legislations,” he said, indicating that the participants in the gathering focused in their talks on the partnership between users and producers of statistical data as well as how to employ this sector for boosting sustainable development strategies.

The first GCC forum kicked last Monday, with the theme, “bolstering statistical partnerships to back up sustainable economic and development policies in the GCC countries.”