NI Statisticians Beirut Bound

NI-CO is delighted to announce the award of their first ever statistics project in Lebanon.  Over the next 18 months the NI-CO expert team supported by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), will work with the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) in Beirut to deliver accurate and validated National Accounts, Trade Statistics and Social Statistics using international nomenclature and collection methodologies.

NI-CO’s Claire Brazil explains : ‘Over the last few years Lebanon has received limited support from the international donor community to upgrade their capacity to collect, analyse and report accurate statistical data.  Unlike the ad hoc and intermittent assistance programmes of the past which have focused on IT support and consultancy, this project will tackle real institutional and development issues in an effort to build a sustainable capacity in CAS to inform important policy reform.  In addition to providing advanced training in statistical analysis and effective dissemination, the NI-CO team will also carry out a feasibility study for the establishment of a business register in Lebanon.  A relatively new concept, this new register will provide a single and more reliable set of employment estimates while also improving the consistency of the national accounts and the quality of the productivity and unit wage cost estimates.’

NI-CO Secures First Regulatory Services Contract in ENPI Region

In mid July, a NI-CO team comprising experts from across the UK and Lithuania will be travelling to Yerevan to commence preparations on the company’s first Market Surveillance contract to be financed via the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).  The €1 million project has been designed to develop and implement a national market surveillance framework in Armenia in line with the internationally recognised best practices in the sector with the aim of preparation for wider international agreements concerning the free movement of goods.

NI-CO Project Executive, Lydia Murray, comments : ‘While Armenia has made considerable progress in the implementation of the EU-Armenia Partnership Co-operation Agreement (PCA) and the ENP in recent years, there is still an urgent need to accelerate legislative harmonisation and improve the quality of existing consumer protection and market surveillance infrastructure.  Over the next 18 months, the UK and Lithuanian expert team will work alongside the State Inspectorate of Protection of Markets and Rights to develop and implement a ‘fit for purpose’ market surveillance framework which will protect consumers and support legitimate businesses against unfair and unscrupulous competition.’