As the current Chair of the Statistics and Database Working Group (SDWG) of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), the Philippines, through the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), conducted the 2021 Virtual Mini-Strategic Planning Meeting (SPM).

PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, Ph.D., National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, chaired the virtual meeting which was attended by delegations from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; represented by officials and staff from PSA and other government agencies. Ms. Susanna Chew of the BIMP-Facilitation Center, Mr. Benjamin Arsenio Navarro of PSA, and Ms. Pamela Layugan-Asis of the Asian Development Bank served as presenters during the SPM.

The agenda of the meeting covered the following: a) context of the SPM, b) the directives and Midterm Review (MTR) of the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 (BEV 2025), c) the 2021 Deliverables and Implementation Plan Preparation, d) the BEV 2025 results framework, e) and the role of the SDWG in the MTR of BEV 2025. The discussions during the meeting also involved issues and concerns revolving around the BIMP-EAGA indicator list. The SDWG also announced that the BIMP-EAGA Information and Statistical Brief will be released in the middle of this year.

Each year, BIMP-EAGA clusters and working groups hold annual strategic planning meetings to review that sector strategies and action plans are aligned with the broad direction of the sub regional cooperation. Due to the on-going pandemic, this is the first strategic planning meeting of the SDWG to be held virtually.

In his message, Undersecretary Mapa underlined that the SDWG has made significant progress since receiving the chairmanship of the group in 2019 with the collaboration of the member governments and other development partners. He also assured the SDWG that PSA continues its commitment to work within the BIMP-EAGA to achieve the goal of balanced and inclusive growth in the sub region.

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-International Cooperation Unit, Office of the National Statistician