Indonesia Appointed to Chairmanship of Asia-Pacific Statistics

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia`s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has been appointed chief of Asia Pacific Statistics for the 2016-2018 term, with responsibilities to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs).

"When leaders of Asia Pacific Statistics met in Bangkok some time ago, I was appointed chairman (of the association)," BPS Chief Suhariyanto said on Saturday.

He added that the Asia Pacific special statistics committee was created to discuss steps to implement SDGs.

Therefore, the committee shoulders serious responsibilities as it leads statistics chairmen throughout the Asia-Pacific region to achieve the SDGs, he said.

"In essence, during the Bangkok meeting, we discussed concrete steps to implement SDGs in the Asia Pacific region. And Indonesia was appointed to the chairmanship of Asia Pacific Statistics for the 2016-2018 period," he said.

At a world level, Asia Pacific Statistics is part of the association called the United Nations Statistics Commission (UNSC), under the authority of the United Nations, he said.

"Why should a regional commission be needed and why are the number of such commissions, now in the UN, not enough? We realize that the constraints faced by each country are different. When it comes to the Asia Pacific region, all the countries in the region are very weak and need assistance to implement SDGs and take several steps by considering the position of the central statistics agency in each each country," he said.

He noted that the lack of high level commitments on the part of Asia Pacific countries to implement SDGs has made it difficult to implement SDGs.

ANTARA