have expressed their intention to do so.
These efforts by international agencies such as the IMF, and regional fora such as APEC, would contribute to the development of comparable economic and financial statistics, in particular, those relating to trade and investment. They complement dissemination standards such as the SDDS and the GDDS, as well as the revision of international statistical frameworks such as the SNA93 and BPM5. They have resulted in recent years to the greater recognition of the importance of readily accessible, timely, accurate and relevant economic and financial statistics not only to support policy formulation, analysis and evaluation but also to facilitate appropriate and realistic assessment of market risks by financial and investment analysts.
V Singapore's Perspective
As a major financial centre in Asia, Singapore recognises the importance of timely and reliable information. Singapore has therefore supported strongly the various international initiatives to increase the accessibility and transparency of timely and reliable economic and financial statistics. For example, besides subscribing to the SDDS, Singapore was also among the first few countries to provide hyperlinks from the IMF's Data Dissemination Bulletin Board to the actual statistics.
Trade and investment flows are Singapore's lifeblood. Singapore is a major trading nation with its economy being among the most open in the world. With financial and capital flows completely liberalised and virtually no restrictions on foreign investment, investment flows, both inward and outward, have been substantial, and are expected to continue to be substantial. With the Singapore economy being truly global, Singapore supports strongly the development of comparable trade and investment statistics.
Besides being among the countries that initiated the development of the APEC Trade and Investment Database (TIDDB), Singapore is also participating in the 1997 IMF Co-ordinated Portfolio Investment Survey. Co-operative efforts such as these will contribute significantly to the availability of more comparable economic and financial statistics. Such statistics are, as noted above, essential
