Overview

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) organize jointly a Regional Seminar on International Trade Statistics in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) from 12 to 16 May 2014 at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The objective of this seminar is to strengthen the capacity of the national statistical systems of countries throughout the African continent in statistics of international trade in goods and services. This activity forms a significant part of the broader effort to improve integrated economic statistics through the implementation of the 2008 System of National Accounts.

This seminar will bring together national experts in the compilation of international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS), statistics of international trade in services, and the goods and services accounts of the balance of payments. The agenda is meant to elicit hands-on discussion and focuses on the status and, especially, the challenges encountered in the implementation of the international recommendations in these fields. A specific item on the agenda is the report of the results of the IMTS quality assessment questionnaire, along with selected issues of concern. Other topics are bridging IMTS and BOP, informal cross border trade, linking trade and the business register, FATS, and data dissemination. This joint activity is an important component in the overall effort to improve evidence-based policy making in Africa.