A workshop on consultation with policymakers and researchers on Vietnam ’s statistics development strategy for 2011-2020 was held in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on April 28 by the General Office of Statistics (GOS) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The workshop stressed the importance of statistics in socio-economic development, to help socio-economic managers and policymakers identify the reality of issues and make predictions on development, as well as take the right decisions.

An increasing number of businesses, socio-economic and research organisations and people need access to an objective, accurate and synchronous information system to serve their work more efficiently, resulting in high demand for a transparent, objective, accurate and timely statistics service, the workshop said.

Christophe Bahuet, UNDP Chief Representative, said building the statistics service in a comprehensive and professional manner requires the involvement of more organisations. It is necessary to review the relationship between data providers and users in order to make suitable adjustments, creating favourable conditions for the development of the statistics service.

Nguyen Van Doan, Head of the GOS’s Statistics Science Institute, stressed the importance of human resource training and due attention to the statistics service, helping it further develop to meet increasing demand from society./.