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On 5 May 2026, UNRC Joe Colombano joined the opening session of the capacity building and training program organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand, on the theme “Strengthening Statistical Knowledge for Quality Data Collection and Analysis.” The program saw the participation of an official delegation from the Central Bureau of Statistics in Pyongyang, headed by Mr. Jo Kyu Song, Director of the Department of Science and Technology at CBS.In remarks delivered at the session, the RC expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to meet in person with the CBS delegation, for the first in over five years. He underscored that direct dialogue is critical to belonging in the international community, to building trust and managing differences, especially at this juncture of the geopolitical landscape. The RC also emphasized the importance of data and statistics to the work of the UN in country and commended the CBS for seizing the opportunity of this training to introduce international standards to their statistical methodologies, including on openness and transparency. Remarks are available here.