The Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), participated in the 10th meeting of the GCC Statistical Center’s (GCC-Stat) Standing Committee on Statistical Work, held at the center’s headquarters in Muscat, Oman. The meeting was attended by representatives of statistical authorities from GCC countries. iGA Deputy CE for Operations and Governance and Acting CE for Statistics and Population Registry, Dr. Khalid Ahmed Almutawah led the delegation, which included iGA’s Director of Economic Statistics, Noora Al-Saadoon.
Dr. AlMutawah highlighted the importance of these joint GCC meetings, which aim to enhance cooperation between member states and encourage discussions related to statistic field. Dr. Al Mutawah added that the items on this meeting’s agenda reflect the high level of importance placed by GCC countries on ensuring that trusted and accurate statistical data is provided across all fields.
The meeting discussed number of items, including the recommendations of the previous session, as well as those from standing and technical committees, in addition to reviewing the memos presented by GCC-Stat. These included discussions on providing technical support to member states, a report on GCC women’s contributions to development, and the creation of a high diploma program for official statistics.
The meeting also covered the Marsa System, which aims to build high-quality and up-to-date central databases for national statistics of member states on a regional level, in which the data will be collected, processed, and distributed automatically and securely. The Committee also discussed the development of joint GCC statistical work and the application of quality standards in statistical projects, which aim to improve the efficiency and quality of statistical data and highlight it at international conferences and forums.
Other items reviewed included the Statistical Report on Social Protection in the GCC, and discussions on statistical indicators to measure how well the Supreme Council of the GCC’s decisions have been implemented. In addition, the meeting covered the Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee’s decision assigning member states the task of creating databases for joint GCC markets, measuring Digital Economy and administrative records for the tourism sector, GCC-Stat’s program for next year in line with its 2021-2025 strategic plan for joint GCC work, and budgeting for 2024.