KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia will increase its collaborations with Asia and the Pacific statistical community to expand statistical capacity-building programmes and activities, particularly in implementing and monitoring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), as a member of the Governing Council (GC) of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), demonstrates Malaysia’s international commitments by facilitating the development, promotion and sharing of best statistical practices and knowledge across global statistical communities to advance the global agenda.
He said Malaysia has a broad platform for knowledge sharing and expertise for sustainable and participatory statistical capacity development, in addition to strengthening international cooperation through the Malaysia Statistics Training Institute.
“By strengthening human capacity building, the exchange of perspectives and the latest technology connected to statistics, DoSM may share and expand abilities in capacity development through training management cooperation in the field of official statistics.
“DoSM also is sharing facilities and collaboration with other related statistical bodies to coordinate the training-related programmes,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said this in his opening remarks at the 19th Session of the GC SIAP and the 18th Management Seminar for the Heads of National Statistical Offices (NSOS) in Asia-Pacific, here Wednesday.
He said Malaysia is supporting SIAP’s efforts to achieve the goals and expectations outlined in the SIAP Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and to improve the statistical systems for decision-making.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy’s secretary-general, Nor Azmie Diron said by leveraging big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, data inputs could be turned into meaningful insights in a timely manner.
He said there is a growing need for comprehensive environmental statistics as the world focuses on addressing climate change and achieving sustainability goals.
“This includes data on greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation rates, renewable energy adoption, and biodiversity. Without drastic action today, adapting to the impacts of climate change will be more challenging and costlier,” he said.
Nor Azmie emphasised that access to precise and current statistics provides the country with a competitive advantage, and noted that the advocacy for evidence-based decision-making reverberates across boardrooms and policy chambers.
“Cultivating a data-centric culture becomes paramount in ensuring that decisions, whether within the public or private sector, remain rational, objective and in harmony with our national aspirations.
“A robust statistical system is important in the policy-making process such as the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 and the National Energy Transition Roadmap,” he said.
The two-day 19th session of the GC SIAP will discuss matters arising from the previous session, including the institute’s proposed work programme and financial plan for 2024 and the formulation of the strategic plan for 2025-2029.
— NNN-BERNAMA
