RC address to the DPRK delegation visiting from the Central Bureau of Statistics in Pyongyang

[as delivered]

Professor Manukid Parnichkun, Vice President for Academic Research at the Asia Institute of Technology,

Professor Abhishek Datta, Acting Dean, Faculty of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 

Mr. Jo Kyu Song, Director, Department of Science and Technology, Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK and Head of Delegation,

Mr. So Kyong Won, Director, Department of External Affairs, Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK, and all other members of the CBS DPRK delegation,

Mr. Sheikh Ahaduzzaman, Deputy Representative of the FAO in the DPRK,

Colleagues and friends,

Good morning.

I am delighted to join you this morning for the opening session of this study visit and training program.

Thank you, first of all, to our hosts, the Asia Institute of Technology, represented here by Professor Parnichkun, and the FAO, especially my friend and colleague Sheikh Ahaduzzaman.

I also wish to thank our guests, Mr. Jo Kyu Song and his colleagues from the Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK, to whom goes my warm welcome to Bangkok. I am especially happy to have you here in person, for the first time after more than 5 years.

As you know, the United Nations system works in over 160 countries around the world, by deploying its agencies at the invitation of the host governments, with the mandate to support country’s national priorities.

In the case of the DPRK, 13 UN agencies have co-signed a Strategic Framework of Cooperation with the DPRK government, and, of these, six UN agencies are meant to be resident in Pyongyang. 

However, UN international staff left DPRK at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has not been able to return since. 

These circumstances make today’s in-person meeting all the more significant. As the UN Resident Coordinator in the DPRK, the message I bring you is the same I always bring to the representatives of any member state of the United Nations: direct dialogue is critical to belonging in the international community, to building trust and managing differences, especially at this juncture of the geopolitical landscape.

For us of the United Nations Country Team in the DPRK, it is especially important to meet colleagues from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The UN work in country is meant to support governments’ efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with all international norms and standards. 

Our work needs data. Since the SDGs were first discussed, mobilising a “data revolution” has underpinned international efforts to achieve them. And indeed Data Management is one of the key priorities of the Strategic Framework for Cooperation agreed between the UN and the DPK. 

Because data are the lifeblood of decision-making and accountability. Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes impossible.

Nowhere is this more relevant to the DPRK and its people than in the agricultural sector, where the introduction of international standards to statistical methodologies, including on openness and transparency, will lead to the production of more efficient and accurate data for the successful implementation of the country’s agricultural policies. 

I commend the Central Bureau of Statistics for seizing the opportunity of this training for statistics capacity building in agriculture, fishing and forestry, which marks the resumption of the collaboration between the United Nations and the Central Bureau of Statistics after five years. 

May it also mark the beginning of a renewed and reinvigorated overall partnership between the UN and DPRK, one based on trust and mutual respect, in line with international norms and standards, and in pursuit of shared objectives.

My warmest wishes for a successful program.

**END**