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The Statistics Advisory Board held a meeting today (May 28) to discuss official statistics work and its recent developments.
At the meeting, members were informed of the latest progress of the implementation of publicity measures to raise public awareness of the General Household Survey (GHS) and work of the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). The effectiveness of the publicity measures was discussed.
The Commissioner for Census and Statistics and Chairman of the Statistics Advisory Board, Mr Leslie Tang, said, "The objective of the publicity measures is to, through raising public awareness of GHS and the work of C&SD, encourage respondents to promptly participate in and support the various statistical surveys conducted by the department. The findings of C&SD's surveys are crucial in planning various public services such as health, education, employment and social services, which are important to people's daily lives. Public participation and co-operation are essential in making statistical work a success."
Members discussed the challenges and the measures to be implemented for collecting information on Sub-divided Units in the 2016 Population By-census.
Members noted the findings and recommendations of the comprehensive review of the fieldwork management system of C&SD, and provided views on the implementation strategy, particularly that relating to the motivation of staff and the engagement of survey respondents.
Also reported at the meeting were the summary results of the 2011 round of the International Comparison Program (ICP) for the Asia-Pacific region, of which Hong Kong was one of the 23 participating economies. Co-ordinated by the World Bank, the ICP is a major global statistical initiative for deriving data for measuring Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) among different currencies, enabling a better cross-economy comparison of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and some other important economic aggregates.
The Board noted the major statistical developments depicted in the 2014 Edition of An Outline of Statistical Development which was published on May 15, 2014.
The Statistics Advisory Board is a non-statutory advisory body which advises the Commissioner for Census and Statistics on matters pertaining to government statistical work. Its membership consists of established professionals of the business sector, academia and the community, which provides for a wide representation to assist the Commissioner in integrating views of data users, data suppliers and statisticians. The terms of reference and composition of the Board can be found on the C&SD website (www.censtatd.gov.hk/about_us/our_advisory_board/index.jsp).
Ends/Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:30
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