Regional workshop on statistics of international trade in services

This workshop is organized jointly by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat).

UNCTAD will present Trade-in-Services Statistics Information System (TiSSTAT) in details. TiSSTAT is a modern tool designed to facilitate collecting and processing SITS by the National Statistical Centers and in collaboration with other national agencies. A system that enables the production of country-owned high-quality and internationally comparable trade-in-services statistics while reducing initial surveying costs and response burden significantly. The main objectives of the Workshop include:

1. Capacity building for SITS surveys: Participants will enhance their ability to implement Statistics on International Trade in Services (SITS) surveys, focusing on institutional arrangements, business registers, and questionnaire design.
2. Hands-On TiSSTAT training: Participants will engage in practical activities with TiSSTAT, a multi-user tool for data collection and processing, including live demonstrations, exploring questionnaires, conducting data entry, and managing sampling and reporting.
3. Exchange of practices and challenges: Countries will share their experiences and challenges in compiling trade in services statistics, helping identify priority areas for support.
4. Methodological best practices: The workshop will address methodological aspects like data validation, stratification, and extrapolation to align with international standards and improve data quality.
5. Survey details for SITS: Sessions will cover survey components, such as enterprise identification, EBOPS categories, partner breakdowns, and modes of supply.