New framework of the national statistical system complements Keluarga Malaysia prosperity

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Statistics and Data Council (MSDN) today held its first meeting in Putrajaya, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Prime Minister said MSDN acts as the highest advisory body in providing guidance and direction to strengthen the governance of the country's statistical system.

He said among the decisions made in today's meeting was that the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) be empowered as the central agency by strengthening the organisation and the modernisation of statistical services.

"The Chief Data Officer (CDO) will be appointed through the reassignment of existing officers in each ministry/department/federal and state agency starting in 2022 in stages; and the implementation of the action plan for strengthening the national statistics system," he said in a statement here.

Ismail Sabri said data is a national asset that must be managed well in order to provide huge returns to the country in the form of information that could provide guidelines towards achieving the country's policy goals and vision.

Clearly, the diversity of information at the national level is very critical to be coordinated.

"The health crisis and natural disasters that hit the country also demand the need for more comprehensive, concise and integrated data availability.

"It will spearhead efforts to coordinate the country's highest level information (government and private), channel the latest data and harmonise statistical work processes," he explained.

MSDN comprised relevant Cabinet ministers, academics, representatives of the public sector, the private sector and industry as well as the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) which acts as the secretariat.

According to the Prime Minister, an Executive Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government was set up to drive collaboration between ministries and agencies as well as the private sector in realising the agenda guided by the direction of MSDN.

Four clusters have been identified as driving components under the Executive Committee, namely the Economic, Agriculture and Industry Cluster chaired by the secretary-general of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI); Education, Social & Population Cluster chaired by the secretary-general of the Ministry of Education (MOE); Wellness, Safety & Health Cluster chaired by the secretary-general of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF);

He said the role of the Executive Committee is to identify and determine priorities to meet the need to strengthen the national statistical system.

It will also coordinate the technical requirements, collection and dissemination of statistics so that the sharing of existing data (administrative data) from ministries, public and private agencies can be used efficiently towards the production of high -impact official statistical output in realising the agenda guided by MSDN.

"To support the MSDN at the federal level, the state/regional statistics and data council (MSDNgW) will be established in each state and federal territory to strengthen the governance of the state and district statistical system up to the smallest level such as parliamentary constituencies and state legislative assemblies."

He said MSDN also noted that DOSM as an internationally recognised statistical organisation adheres to the basic principles of official statistics or Fundamental Principle Official Statistics (FPOS) provided by the United Nations (UN).

"This is to ensure the credibility and integrity of official statistics. It is hoped that the establishment of MSDN will be able to provide a positive impact, including ensuring the availability of more holistic data in formulating short-term and long-term national policies for the well-being of Keluarga Malaysia," said the Prime Minister.

-- BERNAMA