During a workshop that was held at Asharqia Chamber, the General Authority for Statistics confirms the principle of permanent partnership with the private sector.
The General Authority for Statistics confirmed the importance of the relationship with the private sector, as it is one of the most prominent partners in serving the national economy through statistical work. Therefore, it initiated several measures, most notably contributing to the launch of the National Statistics Committee in the Council of Saudi Chambers as a representative of the private sector in statistical activity. The Authority intends to implement new surveys for important sectors such as insurance, small and medium enterprises, foreign investment, and others.
Asharqia Chamber organized a workshop entitled, "Statistics and the role of the Commission in supporting decision makers" on Wednesday 28/3/2018. During this workshop, Tayseer Mohammed Al-Mufraj, director of the Department of Public Information and Statistical Awareness of the Authority, said that working with the private sector is not an option, but rather a course of action to support comprehensive development. He stressed that the information requested by the private sector of the Authority would be reaching them a maximum of 48 hours (if it is not available on the website) because "we work throughout the working hours from 8 am to 11 pm."
The most important part of the partnership with the private sector is the launching of the position of the National Statistics Committee at the Council of Chambers. It was commissioned by the Minister of Economy and Planning and the General Authority for Statistics. Also, it was a result of the interaction of the Council of Chambers' idea that was launched last year. This committee consists of 23 members of the staff of the statistics sector, and data and information from the private sector. Its objectives is to support the strategy and objectives of the General Authority for Statistics to do statistical work in the private sector.
He pointed out that one of the tasks of this committee is to coordinate with the Saudi Chambers to activate the statistical work.
He said that there would be an expanded meeting between the Authority, the Commission, and representatives of the private sector in the Eastern region, after the completion of the formation of the committees in Asharqia Chamber.
He pointed out that the most important transformations of statistical work in the Kingdom is to turn the Department of Statistics into an official governmental agent on statistics. This gave it greater independence in its financial and administrative decisions, as it is now the sole and official reference to the implementation of the statistical work and the technical supervisor of the organization. In addition, it is the largest governmental agency that includes representatives of 14 governmental agencies and representatives of the private sector that appear in the Council of Saudi Chambers, with a number of specialized independents.
He argues that the vision of the Authority (after the last transformation) is to be the most distinctive and innovative statistical reference to achieve economic and social development in the Kingdom. It could be achieved through providing up-to-date statistical products and services that are accurate, comprehensive, and credible in accordance with the latest international standards and practices, and through leading the development of the statistical sector to support decision-making.
In addition, He stressed that the values of the Commission are: (quality, focusing on customers, independence, professionalism, transparency, and participatory).
In this regard, he mentioned that the most prominent clients of the Authority are the government agencies, then the private sector, in addition to academics, researchers, the media, individuals, and families, as well as international organizations wishing to access the services of the statistical agency. He stressed the keenness of the Authority to access the information or service to work at a high level of speed, quality, and comprehensiveness.
He added that the slogan of "focusing on customers" is a fundamental element in the activity of the Authority, which requires continuous monitoring of the needs and requirements of customers, strengthen strategic partnerships with them, and finding the continuous pursuit of satisfaction. This is because customers have become part of the Authority's work phases: understanding the requirements, collecting data, production and publishing, policy making.
At each stage, there would be an interaction with the customers, as the sources of information could be fields or administrative records, and during the fieldwork, the interaction with the customers themselves would be done at various stages.
He explained that the field surveys conducted by the Authority are to return to customers; "in the past, we conducted 8 surveys per year. From last year 2017, we conducted 43 surveys. This year, following an evaluation of the Authority's products, the number of surveys will increase to 58 surveys per year." This is especially after the addition of a number of new field surveys, including (insurance, foreign direct investment, small and medium-sized enterprises, retail trade, non-profit sector, tourism enterprises, and services directory).
On the mechanism of ensuring the quality of data, Al-Mufraj said that the surveys are based on local, regional, and international requirements and standards. He noted that the information is subject to a process of assessment and accurate review in order to verify the validity of all of this, based on the principle that the accurate information will be a true mirror of the Saudi economy.
He talked about the initiative of the Academy of Statistics, which offers the opportunity to work in a commercial manner. It is where the Authority can provide the information that is not available and according to the request of the client for a symbolic (not a profitable) amount of money. This is because the Authority does not seek to compete with the advisory agencies, but works to integrate with them.
