International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) Training

PNG IMTS training

Picture shows Mr Igitoi opening the in-country training course on IMTS

Papua New Guinea National Statistical Office (NSO) hosted the International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) in-country Training Course from 14-17 October 2019.

The first ever in-country training course on IMTS was held at the National Statistical Office in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from the 14 to the 17 October 2019. In opening the course, the Acting National Statistician Mr John Igitoi emphasised the need for such training to strengthen skills at the NSO. Improved skills would enable the NSO to provide users with data that meet all the dimensions of quality: including relevance, credibility, accuracy, timeliness, methodological soundness, coherency and accessibility.

The Pacific Community (SPC) conducted the in-country training. The Fiji Bureau of Statistics provided Peer-to-Peer facilitation funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand. The training also had three invited presentations, two from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and one from the University of Papua New Guinea.

Attending the training were officials from the NSO who were joined by senior officials from the Bank of Papua New Guinea, PNG Customs Service, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Department of Commerce and Industry, Treasury, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

The training focussed on the methodology that is to be used in the compilation of IMTS. Components of the training included discussions on the coverage and scope of IMTS, the need for goods to be coded using the Harmonised System (HS), the correspondence between the HS and other statistical classifications and the processing systems that can be used. The training provided a great opportunity for the producers and the users of IMTS to interact on issues currently being faced, and the need for closer collaboration to strengthen the compilation of IMTS.