frameworks is timely in the light of the globalisation of economic activities and transactions, and the accelerating economic and technological developments.
Besides these major frameworks, several statistical classifications such as the yet to be finalised Central Product Classification, have been or are being revised. Handbooks and manuals (e.g. those on trade statistics, monetary statistics, government finance statistics) are being developed or revised to guide national statisticians in the implementation of these frameworks.
While these new standards and frameworks are timely, their implementation (as with the SDDS and GDDS) impose tremendous challenges and burdens on national statistical agencies, particularly those from developing countries. They entail the need to not only to review existing methodology and data sources, but also the need to develop new data sources and methodology as well as the revision of statistical concepts. These will require the commitment of increasingly scarce resources as well as technical assistance from the international agencies and the more statistically advanced countries.
Singapore, like other Asian countries, has encountered difficulties in implementing these revised frameworks and standards. These difficulties include the shortage of technical expertise and the inadequacy of existing data sources. These and other difficulties are likely to be faced by all other Asian countries in lesser or greater severity depending on the level of their statistical development.
Besides participating in technical workshops and conferences, we have sent our staff to training courses conducted by the IMF and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. We have also made study visits to other statistical agencies and hosted study visits from them. Such exchange of study visits will enable us to learn from one another and facilitate the mutual development of professional and technical expertise.
The development of new data sources to cover identified data gaps is extremely difficult particularly for countries without an adequate statistical infrastructure. For example, in the compilation of direct foreign investment statistics for the balance of payments, some countries have relied on administrative data arising from exchange control requirements. However, the apparent
