Ministry of Economy hosts joint meeting to discuss accession to General Data Dissemination System

The Committee, which consists of the MoE, the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry (MoFI) and the UAE Central Bank, discussed the steps taken regarding the accession to the GDDS. The Committee also discussed the purpose of the system, which is to assist member countries in the development of their statistical systems in view of the increasing need for accurate and comprehensive statistics in making and analyzing policies.

The GDDS address three key areas, which are data quality, planning in the development of statistical systems and data dissemination. The three areas have been determined to be the strong basis for future formation of statistical development policies.

The GDDS also incorporates four characteristics or dimensions of the statistical system. The first dimension covers the data periodicity and coverage. The second dimension covers the data quality and calls for documentation through methodology and data sources, in addition to the distribution of components and matching processes with relevant information and statistical framework.

The third dimension covers "the validity of the data" in terms of commitment to the professional assets and transparency. The fourth dimension is about "making the data available to the public," which includes the declaration of the publishing schedule and the simultaneous publishing for all parties concerned.

The voluntary participation of a country to the GDDS requires certain steps. First is the use of "public order" as a framework for the development of national statistical systems for the production of economic, financial and socio-demographic data and its dissemination. Another is the appointment of a country coordinator to work with experts from the fund. Finally, the preparation of prescriptive data for publication on the electronic board of the standards of data dissemination on the following terms: the current practices in the field of production and dissemination of statistics; and the plans for short and long-term improvements on the four dimensions of the system.

In this context, the Ministry has acted accordingly towards accession to the system. One of the steps taken is the formation of a national committee for the GDDS headed by the MoE and includes representatives from the institutions that produce the official statistical figures in the UAE, which are the MoFI and the Central Bank. Moreover, the Committee will thoroughly discuss the process of accession of the UAE to the GDDS and the coordination between the relevant institutions to achieve the requirements of the accession.

Also, a formal request has been sent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking to bring a "multi-sectional technical mission" or a multi-sector mission to oversee the process of updating the descriptive article or metadata, which is an essential step in the process of accession.

The GDDS offers advantages to the UAE and they include helping the country recognize the importance of the statistical work and clearly identify the necessary plans for the advancement of such work that would ensure a systematic process to achieve the goals set by the statistical system.