UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics
Eighth Meeting of the UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics
- Singapore
- 24 - 26 June 2025
Overview
The 8th meeting of the UN Committee of Experts on Business and Trade Statistics will take place in Singapore from 24 - 26 June 2025.
Since its establishment, the Committee has worked to strengthen the foundation of business statistics, supporting the overall quality of economic statistics, and respond to emerging data needs. The Committee's work focuses on five key areas: coordination, development of methodologies and concepts, capacity-building, data compilation, and communication in the areas of business and trade statistics.
The meeting will review the progress of work of its task teams, address follow-up actions to the decisions of the United Nations Statistical Commission, and review new developments and initiatives in business and trade statistics. In addition, the meeting will provide strategic direction on the organization and work programme of the Committee to ensure that it reflects the current efforts by the Committee to better integrate business and trade statistics and also to strengthen the horizontal and vertical integration of business and trade statistics with other statistical domains.
Programme
▼Tuesday, 24 June 2025
9:30 am - 10:00 am
Opening remarks and objective of the meeting
10:00 am - 10:20 am
Election of the Chair
In accordance with paragraph 17 and 18 of the UNCEBTS Mandate and Governance, a Chair will be elected among the members of Committee for a period of three years.
10:20 am - 10:50 am
Follow up to the UNSC decision and introduction of the strategic framework
This session will provide an overview of the decisions of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March 2025 and the follow-up work of UNCEBTS. It will review current and upcoming priorities for the work programme on business and trade statistics in countries and international organizations. This session will also present the strategic framework on the integration of business and trade statistics with other statistical domains and provide a strategic discussion on the work programme and future direction of the Committee.
10:50 am - 11:20 am
Coffee break and group photo
11:20 am - 12:30 pm
Task Team on International Trade Statistics
This session will review the progress of the Task Team's work on international trade statistics and discuss emerging topics in this area.
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch
2:00 pm - 3:20 pm
Task team on International Trade Statistics, continued
The session will provide an update and discuss the way forward on the implementation of HIBTS following its endorsement by the recent UNSC, and the finalization of the revision of trade statistics manuals (IMTS 2026, MSITS2026 and the 2nd volume of MPIBTS) for submission to the next session of the UNSC in 2026.
3:20 pm - 3:40 pm
Coffee break
3:40 pm - 4:30 pm
UN Handbook of Business Statistics
The session will discuss the way forward to develop a concrete proposal for a Handbook on Business Statistics, including the need for concerted efforts, dedicated resources and prioritization of developing such handbook for reporting back to the next UNSC session.
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Global repositories on business and trade statistics
The session will provide an update on the development of global repositories on business and trade statistics.
▼Wednesday, 25 June 2025
9:30 am - 10:50 am
Task Team on Business Dynamics, Business Demography and Entrepreneurship
This session will review the progress of the work of the Task Team on business dynamics, demography, and entrepreneurship and discuss emerging topics in this area.
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Coffee break
11:10 am - 12:30 pm
Task Team on Statistical Business Registers
This session will review the progress of the work of the Task Team on statistical business registers and discuss emerging topics in this area. Global Initiative on Unique Identifiers for Businesses will also be discussed.
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch
2:00 pm - 3:20 pm
Work programme on Wellbeing and Sustainability
This session will review the progress of the work of the Task Team on wellbeing and sustainability and discuss emerging topics in this area, notably the progress and alignment of programme with the Expert Group on Wellbeing Measurement (EGWM).
3:20 pm - 3:40 pm
Coffee break
3:40 pm - 5:00 pm
Emerging initiatives and IO activities on business and trade statistics
The session will discuss the emerging initiatives and IO activities related to business and trade statistics, such as the drafting ESR Framework on Tourism Statistics. This session will also provide an update on existing initiatives related to business and trade statistics, including the Multi-Enterprise Information Platform.
▼Thursday, 26 June 2025
9:30 am - 10:50 am
Task Team on Digitalization
This session will review the progress of the work of the Task Team on digitalization and discuss emerging topics in this area.
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Coffee break
11:10 am - 12:30 pm
Industrial Statistics
The session will discuss the way forward for the revision of the international guidelines on industrial statistics.
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Capacity development
The session will discuss capacity development efforts undertaken by international/regional organizations and countries to support the compilation of business and trade statistics.
