Contract: “Statistics 4”
Component:Business Statistics
Sub-Component:Industry/Transport Statistics
Leader of the Component:Mr. Salimov
Update:March 2000
Azerbaijan
State Statistical Committee
Contract “Statistics 4”
Component “Industry and transport”
Tacis project for 2000-2001 “Business Statistics”
Industry and Transport
1. Introduction
1.1 Previous action and the results achieved
Till recently, our activity in the framework of the Tacis programme has been limited with participation in a general programme since there was no separate project. It included participation in 1994 in multiplicative course in Berlin, next year - in dissemination course in Tashkent and last year - in the seminar organized by CBS, the Netherlands and etc. as well as meetings in Azerbaijan with the experts visiting State Statistical Committee.
In the framework of the Tacis programme, at the end of 1997 - beginning of 1998, the first selective survey of small-sized industrial enterprises was carried out. As a result, some experience was gained in organisation and conducting such activities as well as use of the results.
2. Analysis of the problem
2.1 Previous situation
A system of organisation of statistical observation existing in the industrial and transport statistics of Azerbaijan has been formed under the conditions of planned economy and was based on the complete method of registration. Homogeneous structure of these branches of economy and relatively small number of enterprises gave the possibility to get the necessary statistical information by means of a simple aggregation of the data.
All the information was treated with application of the classifications of the agricultural branches (ОКОНХ), production (ОКП) and others which were not comparable with the international analogues and were useful only for the countries of the former USSR.
The methodology was worked out in the centralized order, the methodological content of the statistical indices corresponded to the requirements of the planned economy, many indices were developed under the influence of the repeated account factor, directive prices and other subjective non-market factors.
A considerable part of the collected information came from the Ministries, Associations as a summary, all the statistical questionnaires were oriented on one certain form of the activity and made up on the branch-wise basis.
The information treatment was done with the help of big computers, many programme products and a ready economic description of the tasks came from the former State Statistical Committee of the USSR.
2.2 Current situation
Due to the transition to the market relations, to collect an information by means of the old traditional methods of continuous observation becomes not only impossible from the practical point of view but also inexpedient. An application of the sample methods became necessary.
From 1996, step by step, an output information on the industry is being worked out in accordance with the national classification of the types of the economic activity having been elaborated on the basis of NACE rev.1. Production statistics for the time being is worked out according to the old All-Union Production Classification (ОКП) because of the absence of the national classification. In Transport statistics, the absence of the national classification on the goods, perishable goods and others for the time being makes it impossible to systematize a statistical information according to the types of the carried goods in compliance with the international standards.
The work is going on to ensure the comparability of temporary rows when transmitting from old nomenclatures to the new ones. An active work on reformation of the statistical questionnaires in accordance with the requirements of the statistics on enterprises is going on: more rapid in the industrial statistics and it only starts in the transport statistics. For the last 3 years more than 40 statistical reports have been abolished, at the same time a few new reports have been introduced. When abolishing old questionnaires and approving the new ones, forming the statistical indices, we followed, in general, the requirements of the national accountants, the Government and international organizations in appropriate information.
In the industrial statistics, from now on an enterprise is a statistical unit, i.e. since 1998 a course has been pursed for complete rejection of the information collection as a summary from the Ministries, Departments and a full-scale use of the Enterprise register has started. In the Transport statistics (only in motor-vehicle transport for the time being), from the next year it is intended to pass from the collection of summary reports to the Business statistics. Preparatory work is going on at present.
In the statistics of the both branches, transition from the working out statistical materials with the help of big computers to their working out on ПК-Pentium-100 has been completed.
3. Objectives
The basic objective of this project is reforming and updating the industrial and transport statistics in Azerbaijan, harmonization and its approximation to the international standards:
to create a statistical register of the enterprises, its organization and running;
in the Production statistics - to ensure a transition to the national nomenclature of production elaborated on the basis of PRODCOM;
to conduct the census of small-sized industrial enterprises and/or structure surveys of the industrial enterprises;
to update the methods of the sample observation in the industry and transport;
to achieve conformity of the methodological content of the indicators of the industrial and transport statistics with the recommendations of the UN Statistical Commission and other international organizations;
to create a base of economic data and clear system of the statistical indicators of these branches;
to update a system of indicators of the statistical questionnaires according to the requirements of a System of National Accounts (SNA):
elaboration of short-term economic indicators and questionnaires;
elaboration of annual questionnaires covering all the types of economic activity.
4. Link with other projects
There is a direct link between the projects of the Business statistics and classifications as well as organic interrelation within all the projects of the Business statistics as representatives of the economic statistics from the point of view of the unity of final objectives.
Besides, the effectiveness and quality of the sample surveys of entrepreneurs in the transport sector are considerably and directly dependent on how early a register of natural persons will be created.
5. Expected results
The following is expected in the process of implementation of this project:
availability of the statistical register of enterprises and its full-scale use during the planning of all the statistical activities;
wide use of production, goods and other classifications;
availability of results and the first experience in conducting the census of the industrial enterprises and structural surveys;
carrying out sample surveys of entrepreneurs-natural persons, dealing with the carriage of goods and passengers must have a systematic character;
disintegration of statistical questionnaires, elaboration of questionnaires for each group of industrial enterprises separately;
doing calculations at the level of the types of the economic activity according to the indicators of the “value added”.
6. Actions and suggestions
The following activities are going be implemented in the framework of this project:
Table I.
No / Date / Venue / EU Technicalassistant / Type of activity / Main topics
1 / II half of 2000 / Industrial regions of Azerbaijan / CBS
the Netherlands / Consul-tations / 1. Complete census of small-sized industrial enterprises and/or structural survey
2. Collation of the results with the register information
2 / -do- / the Netherlands / -do- / Study tour / Discussion of the results of the census and/or structural surveys
3 / I half of 2001 / Azerbaijan / -do- / Consul-tations / 1.Selected survey for transport
2.Making a register actual
-decision on complete and sample surveys in the industry and transport
3.Discussion of statisti-cal questionnaires, instructions, the process of data collection and survey organization
4 / II half of 2001 / Azerbaijan / -do- / Study tour / 1.Discussion of the survey results and their dissemination to the whole pool;
2.Publication of data
5 / I half of 2002 / -do- / Conclusion of the project and discussion of future cooperation
7. Facilities and expenditures
7.1 Facilities
7.1.1 The number of technical assistants (experts) involved from EU
from CBS, the Netherlands - 1 expert on sampling
-do- - 1 expert on the industry
-do- - 1 expert on the transport
7.1.2 A group of participants of this project comprises the following specialists of the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan:
Head of the project
two experts on the industry
one expert on the transport
one specialist on software
7.1.3 Physical resources
7.2 Expenditures
1. Technical assistance (exchange of experts) / 16 0002. Equipment (beyond the project) / 3 computers, 1 server / 5 000
3. Training / 1 500
4. Publication of the results / 500
5. Expenditures at site for:
a) census of small-sized industrial enterprises (or structural survey)
b) sample survey on transport / Payment of per diems to accountants, printing of forms, technical arrangements etc. / 12 000
8 000
T O T A L / 38 000 Euro