Experts from the national statistical institutes in the Black Sea region will elaborate a set of social and economic indicators for the exchange of statistical information, so that a picture of the current state of the region and the economic and social impact of the coronarvirus crisis can be outlined. This has been decided by the representatives of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Republic of North Macedonia, Russian Federation and Turkey during the first meeting of the Working group on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information at the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Bulgaria is the Country-coordinator of the working group and thus, the meeting was chaired by the President of the NSI, Mr. Sergey Tsvetarsky. ‘We are honored to reactivate the work of the group and take over its coordination, especially in 2021. This year will be crucial to the global response to the crisis caused by COVID-19. The crisis has made it clear that there can be no individual response to the global challenges, which makes international cooperation more important than ever,’ said Mr. Tsvetarsky during his welcome speech.
The group discussed some of the good practices in monitoring the economic consequences of the pandemic in the Member States. The experts shared problems related to the collection of statistical information, caused by the need for social distancing, and the innovative approaches developed by the statistical community to deal with them. The group will continue to promote the exchange of experience by organizing meetings, seminars and trainings for key experts and young statisticians from various fields. The experts expressed their satisfaction with the Bulgarian coordination of the group, which has been dormant for many years. ‘Data is the energy of the future, a future that has already begun. The exchange of statistical information and the cooperation of experts in the field is on its way to become a major locomotive of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and to open a whole new chapter in the region‘s cooperation. Politicians simply need to follow the priorities that the data outlines to ensure the region‘s rapid recovery,’ said H.E. Mr. Michael Christides, Secretary General of the Organization.
During the meeting, the Member States emphasized that they had sent representatives from their statistical institutes within the training programs organized by the Bulgarian NSI and expressed their readiness to continue to participate actively because of the high quality of the courses conducted so far. The next meeting of the group is expected to be held during the second half of the year in Bulgaria, along with a training of young statisticians from the region.
