On July 10-13, 2017, a Delegation of three experts from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) will visit Rabat (Morocco) to organise the duplication of an online dynamic tabulation software that has been developed by the Office des Changes of Morocco (OCM). The discussions regarding this transfer started some time ago and the parties have progressively set modalities to make it successful. They discussed the technical requirements for the adaptation of the software to the specificities of trade statistics in Palestine and for its implementation as a regular tool of the PCBS. In the last few months the two countries have exchanged information regarding particularly the specification of the system in Morocco and the characteristics of the data collection and processing in Palestine.
At this stage of the exchange between the two countries, both sides have the information that is necessary to envisage a more concrete aspect of the transfer. The visit of the Palestinian specialists in Rabat is a central element of the transfer as they will be able to concretely work with their Moroccan counterparts in situ.
When the tool will be developed in Palestine, contacts will be continued between the two teams as to fine-tune the transfer. Several more webinars may be necessary after the mission is completed.
Website of the PCBS: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopDefault.aspx?lang=en
Web site of the OCM: http://www.oc.gov.ma/portal/
There is a huge amount of requests for trade statistics from a large variety users such as the ministries of economy and of finance, private users such as consulting firms and exporters-importers as well as for the compilation of the national accounts and of the balance of payments. So far, the staff responsible for Trade statistics in Palestine processed the daily requests for data at detailed levels using basic commercial software such as MsAccess and Excel. Although this mechanism meets the basic statistical requirements, it has many limitations. The development of a convenient dynamic tool will allow making external trade data available directly on the PCBS website and will enable users to retrieve the data, with the level of detail they need, directly through the new online tool.
For more information, please contact MEDSTAT4@Expertisefrance.fr
