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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Mauritus shares SDDS experience with Seychelles |17 December 2012


The SDDS was established to guide member countries in their provision of economic and financial data to the public.

 As per the IMF, the SDDS is “expected to enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive statistics and therefore contribute to the pursuit of sound macro-economic policies.

 The SDDS is also expected to contribute to the improved functioning of financial markets.”
 
The SDDS is a powerful tool which captures data and information across the broad spheres of activity, covering the real sector, monetary and financial aggregates, the external sector and the fiscal economy.

It allows for improved transparency, promotes timely and comprehensive statistics thus providing a key signal to investors and international institutions.

  In fact, one of the major benefits of the SDDS is that it improves visibility of a country to potential investors and strengthens their trust therein, which is ultimately expected to yield lower borrowing costs.  Policymakers also benefit from having access to more accurate information.
 
The Seychelles authorities – through the Minister for Finance, Trade and Investment - invited the chairman of the Statistics Board of Mauritius, Gilbert Gnany and the director of Statistics and chairperson of the SDDS steering committee, Li Fa Cheung, to visit Seychelles from December 5 to 12, 2012.

  The Statistics Board of Mauritius is, inter alia, an independent coordinating body for statistical programmes of producers of official statistics in Mauritius.

  The purpose of the visit was to share the Mauritius experience in implementing the SDDS which will be of use to Seychelles during the accession process.
  
Mauritius acceded to the SDDS early this year following a long and challenging process alongside deep rooted reforms that were required to upgrade the legislative and regulatory framework.

  In order to achieve these reforms and spearhead the process, a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics was established to encompass all stakeholders involved in the collection, processing and dissemination of statistics.
 
It is the experience gained during this process that the Mauritian delegation shared with the Seychelles stakeholders during this visit.
“Mauritius and Seychelles have a number of inherent similarities and development needs, which imply that peer learning can only be mutually beneficial.

 Here, our experience is something Seychelles could tap into, especially towards avoiding some of the common pitfalls one might meet in the complex task of putting the groundwork for SDDS,” stated Mr Gnany during his visit. 

During the visit, the delegation met stakeholders such as the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Seychelles, and the Seychelles International Business Authority.

 A series of workshops were organised to discuss the main aspects of SDDS and to outline the Mauritian experience including the challenges in the accession process.
 
The collaboration between the two island nations will continue with regards to the statistical matters through ongoing peer learning, with particular emphasis on the graduation process to the SDDS.   

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