APPENDICES

A. AGENDA

ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

NINETEENTH SESSION

Seoul, Republic of Korea, 21 - 25 October 2002

AGENDA

1. Opening of the Session

2. Election of Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Drafting Committee

3. Adoption of the Agenda and Timetable

4. FAO's Activities in Food and Agricultural Statistics during 2000 - 2002 in the Asia and Pacific Region

5. Review of the Present State of Food and Agricultural Statistics in Member Countries of the Commission - Country Statements

6. Report on the Japan/FAO Cooperative Projects, "Improvement of Agriculture Statistics in Asia and Pacific Countries" and "Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System on Food and Agricultural Statistics in Asia and Pacific Countries" and related Japanese Support to Agricultural Statistics

7. Millennium Development Goals and the Role of Agricultural Statistics

8. Image Scanning Technology in the Processing of Agricultural Survey and Census Data

9. Agricultural Census: Current and Future Developments

10. Indicators for Agricultural Policy Analysis

11. Shortcomings in Fishery Statistics and a Proposal for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries

12. Developing Information System for Sustainable Forest Management in Asia and the Pacific

13. Other Matters

14. Adoption of the Report

15. Closing of the Session

B. LIST OF DELEGATES AND OBSERVERS

AUSTRALIA

Allan NICHOLLS
Director
Goods and Services National Statistics Centre
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Belconnen ACT 2616
Tel: (61-2) 6252 5339
Fax: (61-2) 6252 5335
E-mail: [email protected]

BANGLADESH

Md. Habibur RAHMAN
Joint Chief
Ministry of Agriculture
Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
Tel: 880-2-861861
Fax: 880-2-8117040
E-mail: [email protected]

CAMBODIA

KITH Seng
Director
Department of Planning, Statistics and International Cooperation (DPSK)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
Phnom Penh
Tel: (855-23) 720527
Fax: (855-23) 216060
E-mail: [email protected]

CHEK Nann
Chief
Agricultural Statistics Office
Department of Planning, Statistics and International Cooperation (DPSIC)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Phnom Penh
Tel: (855-23) 720527
Fax: (855-23) 211411
E-mail: [email protected]

CHINA

ZHANG Tianzuo
Deputy Director-General
Department of Market and Economic Information
Ministry of Agriculture
11 Nong Zhan Guan Nanli
Beijing 100026
Tel: (86-10) 64193165
Fax: (86-10) 64193146
E-mail: [email protected]

CHEN Lishui
Chief
Statistics and Information Division
Department of Market and Economic Information
Ministry of Agriculture
11 Nong Zhan Guan Nanli
Beijing 100026
Tel: (86-10) 64193149
Fax: (86-10) 64193146

ZHANG Shuying (Ms)
Deputy Director-General
Rural Survey Organization
National Bureau of Statistics
75 Yuetan Nanjie, Sanlihe
Beijing 100826
Tel: (86-10) 63266600
Fax: (86-10) 63401409
E-mail: [email protected]

HOU Rui (Ms)
Senior Statistician
Rural Market Survey Division
National Bureau of Statistics
75 Yuetan Nanjie, Sanlihe
Beijing 100826
Tel: (86-10) 63266600 -31313
Fax: (86-10) 63401409
E-mail: [email protected]

YU Shiqiang
Interpreter
Center of International Cooperation Service
Ministry of Agriculture
11 Nong Zhan Guan Nanli
Beijing 100026
Tel (86-10) 64192431
Fax: (86-10) 64192490
E-mail: [email protected]

INDIA

Narayanan EKAMBARAM
Additional Statistical Adviser
Directorate of Economics and Statistics
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi 110-001
Tel: (91- 11) - 338 2236
Fax:: (91- 11) - 3382719
E-mail: [email protected]

INDONESIA

Slamet MUKENO
Deputy for Economic Statistics
BPS Statistics Indonesia
Jakarta 10710
Tel/Fax: (6221) 384-6304
E-mail: [email protected]

Edi ABDURACHMAN
Director
Centre for Agricultural Data and Information
Ministry of Agriculture
Jakarta 12540
Tel: (62-21)-7816384
Fax: (62-21)-7816385
E-mail: [email protected]

Soeparno HARYANO
Head
Research Collaboration Division
Ministry of Agriculture
Jakarta 12540
Tel: (62-21) 78831114
Fax: (62-21) 7812191
E-mail: [email protected]

IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF

HATAMI SADABAD Alireza
Deputy Director-General
Bureau of Statistics and Information Technology
Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture
Tehran 14155
Tel: (98-21) 8963025
Fax: (98-21) 8960377
E-mail: [email protected]

JAPAN

Masataka HISHIYAMA
Director
Office of International Affairs
Statistics & Information Department (SID)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8950
Tel: (81-3) 35028111
Fax: (81-3) 35803767
E-mail: [email protected]

Takashi YAMASHITA
Senior Statistician
Office of International Affairs
Statistics & Information Department (SID)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8950
Tel: (81-3) 35025687
Fax: (81-3) 35883767
E-mail: [email protected]

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

Lee, Sang-Kil
Director General
Agricultural Information & Statistics Bureau
Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry
Tel: (82-2) 500-1611
Fax: (82-2) 507-3961
E-mail: [email protected]

Suk, Hee-Jin
Director
Statistics Planning Division
Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry
Tel: (82-2) 500-1612
Fax: (82-2) 507-3961
E-mail: [email protected]

Song, Joo-Ho
Director
Multilateral Cooperation Division
Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry
Tel: (82-2) 500-1702
Fax: (82-2) 507-2095
E-mail: [email protected]

Kim, Kyeong-Kyu
Agricultural Attache
Embassy of the Rrpublic of Korea, Rome, Italy
Tel: (001-39-06) 808-8769
Fax: (001-39-6) 8068-7794
E-mail: [email protected]

Chang, Young-Il
Deputy Director
Agricultural Information Statistics Division
National Agricultural Products Management Service
Tel: (82-31) 446-0226
Fax: (82-31) 449-5294
E-mail: [email protected]

Shim, Jae-Hyun
Deputy Director
Fishery Policy Division
Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries
Tel: (82-2) 3148-6911
Fax: (82-2) 3148-6916
E-mail: [email protected]

Lee, Sang-Yong
Senior Researcher
Farm Management & Information Bureau
Agro-technology Assessment team
Rural Development Administration
Tel: (82-31) 299-2302
Fax: (82-31) 299-2344
E-mail: [email protected]

Kwak, Zoo-Rhin
Director
International Cooperation Division
Korea Forest Service
Tel: (82-42) 481-4140
Fax: (82-42) 481-4009
E-mail: [email protected]

Kim, Tae-Choong
Director
Agriculture & Fishery Statistical Office Division
National Statistical Office
Tel: (82-42) 481-2284
Fax: (82-42) 481-2473
E-mail: [email protected]

Kim, Kyeong-Duk
Fellow
Korea Rural Economic Institute
Tel: (82-2) 3299-4240
Fax: (82-2) 965-4395
E-mail: [email protected]

Jeong, Il Ok
Manager
Research Dept.
National Agricultural Cooperative Fedeeration
Tel: (82-2) 397-7051
Fax: (82-2) 397-7070
E-mail: [email protected]

Jeon, Jong-Woo
Professor, Department of Statistics
Director, Statistical Research Center for Complex Systems
Seoul National University, College of Natural Sciences
Tel: (82-2) 880-6574
Fax: (82-2) 883-6144
E-mail: [email protected]

LAO PDR

Samaychanh BOUPHA
Deputy Director General
Committee for Planning and Cooperation
National Statistical Center
Luang Prabang Road
Vientiane
Tel: (856-21) 214740
Fax: (856-21) 216659
E-mail: [email protected]

MALAYSIA

AMRAN Bin Othman
Statistician
Macro and Strategic Planning Division
Ministry of Agriculture
50624 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603) 26175165
Fax: (603) 26915642
E-mail: [email protected]

MYANMAR

U Win KYI
Director-General
Settlement and Land Records Department
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Yangon
Tel: 951-665359
Fax: 951-652195
E-mail: [email protected]

U Win Htoon NEE
Director
Settlement and Land Records Department
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Yangon
Tel: 951-665359

U Saw HLAING
Deputy Director
Settlement and Land Records Department
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Yangon
Tel: 951-665359

NEPAL

Rabi SINGH
Deputy Director
Central Bureau of Statistics
Thapathali
Kathmandu
Tel: (977-1) 429182
Fax: (977-1) 227-720
E-mail: [email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

David Alexander LILLIS
Senior Analyst
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
P.O. Box 2526
Wellington
Tel: (64-4) 498-9828
Fax: (64-4) 474 4206
E-mail: [email protected]

PAKISTAN

Mir BADSHAH
Counselor
Embassy of Pakistan
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: (82-2) - 796-8252
Fax: (82-2) - 796-0313
E-mail: [email protected]

TANWEER Rizvi
Embassy of Pakistan
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: (82-2) - 796-8252
Fax: (82-2) - 796-0313
E-mail: [email protected]

PHILIPPINES

Romeo RECIDE
Director
Bureau of Agricultural Statistics
1184 Quezon Avenue
Quezon City
Tel: (63 2) 3712050
Fax: (632) 3712086
E-mail: [email protected]

SRI LANKA

A. M.U. DISSANAYAKE
Deputy Director
Agricultural and Environmental Statistics Division
Department of Census and Statistics
No. 30 Asoka Gardens
Colombo 4
Tel/Fax: (94-1) 502953
E-mail: [email protected]

THAILAND

Jirawan BOONPERM (Mrs)
Senior Expert on socio-Economic Statistics
National Statistical Office
Larn Luang Rd., Bangkok 10100
Tel: (662) 281-8619
Fax: (662) 281- 3815
E-mail: [email protected]

Rajana NETSAENGTIP (Ms)
Statistician
National Statistical Office
Larn Luang Rd., Bangkok 10100
Tel: (662) 281-0333 ext. 1813
Fax: (662) 281-3815
E-mail: [email protected]

Suraporn ISSARADETKUL (Ms)
Senior Statistics Technical Officer
Center for Agricultural Information
Office of Agricultural Economics
Kasetsart University Campus
Bangkhen, Bangkok 10900
Tel/Fax: (662) 940-5407
E-mail: [email protected]

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Larry A. SIVERS
Director
International Programs Office
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Department of Agriculture
Room 4112 South Building
14th & Independence Ave. SW
Washington D.C. 20250-2013
Tel: (202) 720-4505
Fax: (202) 720-0506
E-mail: [email protected]

VIET NAM

PHAM Quang Vinh
Deputy Director
Agricultural Statistics Department
General Statistics Office
Hanoi
Tel: (84-4) 8234903
Fax: (84-4) 8464345
E-mail: [email protected]

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS, SPECIALIZED AGENCIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

ASIAN PRODUCTIVITY ORGANIZATION (APO)

Kunio TSUBOTA
Director
Agriculture Department
Hirakawa-cho, Dai-ichi Seimei Bldg. 2F
1-2-10 Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 102-0093, JAPAN
Tel: (81-3) 5226-3924
Fax: (81-3) 5226-3954
E-mail: [email protected]

UN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (ESCAP)

Lene MIKKELSEN (Ms)
Chief
Statistics Development Section
Statistics Division (ESCAP)
UN Building, Rajdamnern Nok
Bangkok 10200, THAILAND
Tel: (662) 288-1653
Fax: (662) 288-1082
E-mail: [email protected]

SOUTHEAST ASIAN FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SEAFDEC)

Panu TAVARUTMANEEGUL
Secretary-General
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
P.O. Box 1046
Bangkok 10903, THAILAND
Tel: (662) 940-6326/29
Fax: (662) 940-6336
E-mail: [email protected]

Suriyan VICHITLEKARN
Program Manager
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
P.O. Box 1046
Bangkok 10903, THAILAND
Tel: (662) 940-6326/29
Fax: (662) 940-6336
E-mail: [email protected]

OBSERVERS

H.K. OH
Central P.O. Box 83
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: (82-2) - 2238-7308 or (82-11)- 9749-7308 (mobile)

Lee, Nung-Wan
Policy Officer (GCP/RAS/181/ROK)
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, THAILAND
Tel: (662) - 976-4192
Fax: (662) 976 - 4445
E-mail: [email protected]

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Haluk KASNAKOGLU
Director
Statistics Division
Economic and Social Department
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, ITALY
Tel: (3906) 570-53599
Fax: (3906) 570-55615
E-mail: [email protected]

Hiek SOM
Chief
Statistical Development Service
Statistics Division
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, ITALY
Tel: (3906) 570-55070
Fax: (3906) 570-55615
E-mail: hiek.som.for.org

Richard John Rowland GRAINGER
Chief
Fishery Information
Data and Statistics Unit
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, ITALY
Tel: (3906) 570-54828
Fax: (3906) 570-52476
E-mail: [email protected]

Pratap NARAIN
Senior Officer (Economic and Environmental Statistics)
Statistical Analysis Service
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, ITALY
Tel: (3906) 570-55577
Fax: (3906) 570-55615
E-mail: [email protected]

Mariana CAMPEANU
Statistician
Statisticis Division
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, ITALY
Tel: (3906) 570-53661
Fax: (3906) 570-55615
E-mail: [email protected]

Kimihiko EURA
Agricultural Statistics Expert/
Chief Technical Adviser GCP/RAS/71/JPN
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, THAILAND
Tel: (662) 697-4354
Fax: (662) 697-4407
E-mail: [email protected]

SUGIYAMA Shunji
APO (Fishery Statistics)
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, THAILAND
Tel: (662) 697-4242
Fax: (662) 697-4445
E-mail: [email protected]

LIAISON OFFICER

KIM Sang-Geun
Deputy Director
Agricultural Information and Statistics Bureau
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: (82-2) 5001619
Fax: (82-2) 507-3961
E-mail: [email protected]

FAO CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT

Frederick BAKER
Senior Statistician and APCAS Secretary
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (662) 697-4250
Fax: (66-2) 697-4445
E-mail: [email protected]

D.K. TREHAN
Consultant
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand

Truchai SODSOON (Mrs)
Translation Assistant
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand

C. LIST OF DOCUMENTS

D. INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY HE JUNG HO KIM, DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor to have this opportunity to speak today at the opening ceremony of the 19^th Session of the Asia Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics in Seoul.

On behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of Korea, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all the distinguished delegation and participants from each member country, FAO headquarters, and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Korea has the honor to host this first session of the new millenium which is very meaningful. In fact, this is the third time for us to host the Commission in Seoul, following the 4^th Session in 1972 and 11^th Session in 1986.

Especially important is that, many experts of statistics on agriculture, including the representatives of twenty FAO Asia Pacific regional members and international organizations, and statistics related officials of the FAO have come to participate in this meeting.

The representatives and officials are expected to exchange ideas on the compilation and use of member countries' statistics. The experts will also present research results on measures to enhance the Asia Pacific regional countries' statistics on agriculture and strengthen the statistical data exchange system on food and agriculture.

And there will be a demonstration on the image scanning technology for processing the census data and statistics study on agriculture.

Last but not least, the participants will establish development goals for the Asia Pacific region and review the preparations for the World Census of Agriculture 2010. Such activities will help develop the Asia Pacific members' statistics on food and agriculture.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you know, agriculture has an extremely important economic, environmental, and social role in the development of a nation.

Also, agriculture has various important functions besides the function of providing food, such as developing rural villages, controlling floods, protecting the environment, preserving traditional culture, and maintaining rural viability.

Despite the efforts of countries around the world to achieve a level of food self-sufficiency, which is also the essential reason for carrying out agricultural production, more than 800 million people are suffering from malnutrition and more than 60 million are facing food shortages.

More than two thirds of the world's population suffering from starvation and poverty live in the Asia Pacific region.

In order to resolve the problems of poverty and malnutrition in this region, we must develop agriculture. And to this end, it is most important to have close cooperation between countries in this region.

Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We need to provide reliable, up-to-date statistical data on agriculture in order to establish agricultural policy, to implement decision-making for farmers' agro-business, and to carry out research to resolve problems related to agriculture.

I truly believe that in Korea, our efforts to produce more reliable statistics have contributed greatly to designing adequate policy tools for agricultural development.

However, we need to further expand the role and function of agriculture-related statistics in order to develop agriculture in this knowledge-based information society.

There will be an increased demand for various kinds of statistics following the specialization of agriculture and the diversification of agro-businesses.

Therefore, we need to meet the growing demands of the information-oriented society by producing quality statistics and developing new techniques.

In this respect, I sincerely hope that the Session in Seoul will contribute greatly to the development of agriculture in each country.

In conclusion, I hope all of you will have a truly fruitful session and a pleasant stay here in Korea. I would also like to wish you all health and happiness.

And now, I would like to declare the opening of the 19^th Session of the Asia Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics.

Thank you.

E. STATEMENT OF MR HE CHANGCHUI, REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION

Mr Chairman,
Your Excellency, Vice-Minister of Agriculture,
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am deeply honoured, on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, and on my own behalf, to welcome you all to this beautiful country of the Republic of Korea on the occasion of the Nineteenth Session of the Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics.

With your indulgence, allow me first to extend my deep appreciation and thanks to the Government of the Republic of Korea for hosting and providing us with excellent facilities and an environment for a productive and fruitful Session. I am personally grateful to you, Mr Vice-Minister, for sparing some of your very valuable time to inaugurate the deliberations of this Commission.

This is the third time that the Commission, which has regularly met every other year since its first session in 1966, is benefiting from the generous hospitality of the Republic of Korea. The Commission's Fourth meeting in 1972 and Eleventh meeting in 1986 were also held in Seoul.

I am pleased that delegations from 20 member countries are participating. I am also delighted that three United Nations and international organisations are also present. I welcome you all to this Nineteenth APCAS Session. Your active involvement and continued interests in the activities of FAO, particularly in the field of food and agricultural statistics, is a good sign for efforts to strengthen and maintain strong national statistical systems in Asia and the Pacific rim.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The world is changing rapidly as we move into the 21^st century. New methods of telecommunication, more efficient transportation, better marketing channels, higher yields for food production and innovative methods of processing have improved the flow of goods and services between and within countries and have increased the amount of food available to feed the world's growing population. It is an exciting and challenging environment.

Unfortunately many of the same problems still exist. We are still living in a world where many persons are unable to find enough nutritionally adequate and safe food. We are working in a world that is seeking ways to adjust to globalization and to find the keys to the alleviation of poverty and to reducing hunger.

As the largest UN specialized agency with the mandate to fight hunger and rural poverty, FAO is committed to working with governments, civil society, development partners and donors in the region to realise the goals of the World Food Summit which were reconfirmed at the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS: fyl).

I am pleased that the Commission will have an opportunity to learn how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targets and indicators adopted at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in September 2000 apply to agricultural statistics programmes. Meeting these targets is feasible but far from assured; the indicators are required to measure the progress made.

During the 26^th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific held in Nepal in May 2002, member countries recognized the importance of food security and encouraged member countries to extend their full support to the application of food insecurity and vulnerability information mapping systems (FIVIMS) and requested FAO to provide support to member countries in establishing and strengthening national FIVIMS

During the WFS:fyl in June 2002 there was an agreement to evolve a set of voluntary guidelines to assist countries in promoting the right to food for their people. The urgency of this entitlement is most evident in Asia where more than 10 million people die each year as a result of hunger and diseases caused by undernourishment. And sadly, three out of four of these deaths are children.

In this connection, I am pleased to report that through the concerted efforts of the Italian Government, FAO and the Government of Viet Nam, a Food Security Information Unit has been established to provide reliable information to support national food security and poverty eradication programmes. This unit disseminates through the Internet current information about factors (such as weather, prices, estimated production, etc.) influencing production of various crops in Viet Nam.

And it is also gratifying to report that a regional FIVIMS project funded by the Government of Japan has been initiated in the five countries of Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. FAO technical staff from Rome and Bangkok are involved in building national awareness of FIVIMS and in the development of national FIVIMS action plans.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am also pleased to note that many APCAS member countries have already conducted their respective agricultural censuses during the last decade. And it is even more encouraging that efforts have been started to analyze these results (especially in China) so that a more complete picture of the structure of the agriculture sector can be determined. I know that the Governments of Australia, Bhutan, the Cook Islands, Korea, New Zealand and Viet Nam have recently completed agriculture censuses and I understand that the Commission will be informed about some of their experiences.

FAO has always been at the forefront of promoting and providing technical assistance to member countries to establish and develop a strong national agricultural statistical system. Since 1950 FAO has been the leading advocate for the Programme for the World Census of Agriculture. The Programme encourages standardisation of a minimum core programme for the agricultural census and a complementary relationship between the agricultural census and more frequent food and agricultural sample surveys, all of which should have a recognised role within the overall national survey programme. FAO is continuing to look for better ways to assist countries to meet the demands of the users of these data and has initiated its efforts to make the Programme for 2010 more useful to the countries in their efforts to collect these data. I am delighted to see that this Commission will have the opportunity to participate in the early discussions about this important activity.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Technology revolution has continued since the Eighteenth Session of APCAS was held in Bali in November 2000, and has made a strong mark on the processing and dissemination of agricultural sector data. Not only the public sector, but also the private sector has become more reliant on "instant information" and is demanding timelier and more reliable statistics to use in their decision-making. Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) now provide policy makers and economists and researchers with direct access to data about production, markets and policies of most countries in the World.

Thus, I am glad to see that the Commission will have the opportunity to learn about the use of one aspect of this technology to facilitate the processing of census and survey data. In this connection I should like to mention that although Thailand is not the only country that has pioneered the use of image scanning technology, the development of this technology is of special interest to us in the Regional Office of FAO.

Good and accurate food and agriculture statistics will provide immeasurable support in our battle to overcome the link between poverty and food insecurity. Policies are formulated from available information. Programmes and projects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity, at stabilising food supply and at developing and improving agricultural services and infrastructures for a more equitable access to food will only succeed if backed up by timely and reliable statistics.

With these objectives in mind it is important also to understand the role of these data in making decisions. Given the increased availability of statistics about the agriculture sector, policy-makers have more information to evaluate their policies and to monitor the progress in achieving their goals, but it is necessary to know how to apply these statistics so that the effects of the policies can be properly interpreted. It is especially gratifying to me to note that the Commission will be informed about key indicators for policy analysis and guidelines for using them.

Recently FAO, the Mekong River Commission and the Government of Thailand organized an "Ad hoc Expert Consultation on New Approaches for the Improvement of Inland Capture Fishery Statistics in the Mekong Basin" in Udon Thani, Thailand, as a way to obtain inputs from countries with a large number of inland fisheries. The improvement of information about inland capture fisheries is an important issue and it is good to see that the Commission will be informed about the latest approaches and can assist in finding ways to evaluate this important contributor to food security. It is also encouraging to see that the Government of Myanmar is preparing to conduct an Agricultural Census that will include some questions on Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries in order to try to capture this important information.

Achieving sustainable management of forests and tree resources and enhancing the supply of goods and services that forests provide are the goals of most forest policies in the Asia-Pacific region. The growing demand for a range of goods and services by different stakeholders has increased the complexity of sustainable forest management, especially when the varying demands are conflicting. An important institutional change in most countries is the diminishing role of the public sector in forest resource management and a corresponding increase in private sector efforts, especially as regards production of wood and non-wood forest products. Information needs will increase, as stakeholders and objectives of forest resource management diversify. It is opportune for the Commission to learn about the importance of developing new methods for collection and dissemination of relevant forestry statistics.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Despite limitations of budgetary and manpower resources, FAO has continued to sustain its efforts to support requests from member countries in a number of areas: strengthening national statistical systems, developing methodologies, organising agricultural censuses and surveys, human resource development, project formulation and donor identification.

In this regard, I will be remiss if I fail to acknowledge the continuing support from the donor community which has been our enduring partner in the field of international co-operation. The Government of Japan deserves special mention for their efforts to immediately respond to the Commission's requests for regional projects to establish an information exchange among APCAS member countries that is leading to further improvement of food and agricultural statistics in the region. The progress of these efforts will be reported to the Commission. It has also been extending, since 1994, continuous support to Indonesia, in improving its agricultural statistics, particularly in the area of rice statistics. And a new initiative to provide support to the ASEAN countries has just been approved.

Finally, let me reiterate and convey my sincerest gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Korea for hosting this Commission Session and for its support to FAO in the areas of nutrition and policy analysis.

I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of the Secretariat staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Korea and the COEX team for organising this meeting. I also thank my colleagues from FAO headquarters and the Regional Office for their dedication to their tasks.

I wish you success in your deliberations and a pleasant stay in this delightful country.

F. ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

Members as of October 2002

DATES AND PLACES OF SESSIONS OF THE ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS