SAVINGRAM

FROM:            Secretary-General, Caribbean Community

TO:                  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antigua and Barbuda

Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Bahamas

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Barbados

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Belize

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dominica

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Grenada

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Haiti

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jamaica

                        Hon. Chief Minister, Montserrat

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, St Kitts and Nevis

                        Minister of External Affairs, Saint Lucia

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, St Vincent and the Grenadines

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suriname

                        Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago

COPIED:         Hon. Chief Minister, Anguilla

                        Hon. Premier, Bermuda

                        Hon. Chief Minister, British Virgin Islands

                        The Leader of Government Business, Cayman Islands

                        Hon. Chief Minister, Turks and Caicos Islands

                        Directors of Statistics/Chief Statisticians

                        Ministers with responsibility for CARICOM Affairs                 

                        Ambassadors of Member States accredited to CARICOM

                        High Commissioner for Jamaica to Trinidad and Tobago,  

                        Barbados, Guyana and  the Eastern Caribbean States

                        and Ambassador to Suriname

                        High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica

No.  469/2003                                                                                                                24 July 2003

TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF

CARIBBEAN STATISTICIANS (SCCS),  3-5 NOVEMBER 2003

AND

ELEVENTH MEETING OF THE REGIONAL CENSUS COORDINATING

COMMITTEE (RCCC), 6-7 NOVEMBER 2003

PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

(CONVENING)

TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF

CARIBBEAN STATISTICIANS (SCCS),  3-5 NOVEMBER 2003

AND

ELEVENTH MEETING OF THE REGIONAL CENSUS COORDINATING

COMMITTEE (RCCC), 6-7 NOVEMBER 2003

PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

(CONVENING)

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat wishes to advise Member States that it proposes to convene the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCS) and the Eleventh Meeting of the Regional Census Coordinating Committee (RCCC) on 3-5 and 6-7 November 2003, respectively, in Providenciales,Turks and Caicos Islands.  The venue for the Meeting will be the Allegro Resort.

The Provisional Agenda for the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the SCCS is attached. The Agenda for the Eleventh Meeting of the RCCC will be forwarded at a later date.  The Secretariat would be grateful to receive by 6 October 2003, a listing of any additional item(s) which Member States would wish to have included on the Agenda, for consideration by the SCCS Meeting.  This should be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum on the proposed item(s).  In addition, Member States can indicate to the Secretariat papers that they would like to present at the Meeting, based on the Agenda.

The Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the SCCS will once again provide a forum to discuss the progress, achievements and constraints faced by Member States in the production of statistics, and to suggest the next steps forward. The Meeting will serve as a means of information interchange for producers and users of statistics and donor organisations that can lead to the strengthening of Statistical Capacity and the production of demand-driven statistics, relevant to users and to the regional and international community, in general.  It is also another opportunity to review past approaches in the Region and to formulate or adjust strategies for the advancement of Statistics in the Region.

A critical item on the Agenda of this Meeting of the SCCS is the formulation of a Statistics Programme for the Region, the foundation of which has been gradually laid through the establishment of Technical Advisory Groups and recommendations of work to be achieved in areas such as National Accounts, International Trade in Services and Social Statistics.  This statistical programming approach will undoubtedly be a critical step forward, not only to establish the required surveillance mechanism for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the processes of global and hemispheric liberalisation, but also to provide a framework for the operations of all stakeholders engaged in the improvement of statistics in the Region and its dissemination to policy-makers, the private sector and other users.

Given the changing environment, the new and increasing demand for statistics, and the need to improve the quality of statistics, mechanisms to persuade Governments of the Region to treat statistics as a priority should be a fundamental part of these deliberations.  However, there is need to ensure that the strategies that are developed do not overburden the National Statistical Offices of the Region.

With respect to the Year 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses, several countries are now approaching the stage or already have clean data sets and tabulations. The Eleventh Meeting of the RCCC will serve to assess the progress of the Year 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses in Member States, to share experiences and to be apprised of the assistance being put in place to advance the analysis and dissemination of the Census data.

In order to make the best use of the time available at the Meetings, Member States are requested to prepare separate progress reports on:

(i)         the Year 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses; and

(ii)        the various aspects of their work in 2003, and proposed Work Programmes for 2004.

The Secretariat wishes to request that Member States bring to the Meetings, 50 copies of each report indicated above, and/or papers to be presented at the Meetings. The Secretariat will be happy to receive electronic copies of all presentations for posting on its Website.

Information about the Meeting and documents will be available and updated on www.caricom.org/CARIstats/index.html.

Accommodation for delegations to the Meeting has been arranged at the Allegro Resort at a rate of US$150 per night, inclusive of accommodation and meals.

In order to effect administrative arrangements, Member States are requested to forward, as early as possible, the name(s) and designation(s) of member(s) of their delegation(s), their estimated date(s) and time(s) of arrival in, and departure from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, and their hotel requirements, not later than 6 October 2003, after which time delegates will be responsible for their own accommodation arrangements.  This information should be submitted to:

                        Ms Le Moni Dean,

                        Statistical Surveys Officer,

                        Department of Economic and Planning and Statistics

                        Town Centre Mall Extension

                        Providenciales

                        Turks and Caicos Islands

                        Tel:      (649) 941-5194

                        Fax:     (649) 941-5096

                        E-mail: depsprovo@tciway.tc or

                                    Dclement@gov.tc

and copied to the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, for the attention of:

                        Dr Philomen Harrison

                        Deputy Programme Manager, Statistics

                        CARICOM Secretariat

                        Eddy Grant Building

                        P O Box 10827

                        Georgetown, Guyana

Tel.  No.:          (592) 223-5300-3/226-4977

Fax.  No.:         (592) 226-6091/226-7816/225-7341/225-8039

E-mail:             harrison@caricom.org

                                                stats3@caricom.org

SECRETARY GENERAL