H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK held a constructive bilateral meeting with H.E. Dr. Fahad AL-DOSSARI, President of the General Authority for Statistics of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (GASTAT), on the sidelines of the 12^th Session of OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom), on 3 October 2023, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

At the outset, H.E. SELÇUK thanked for the warm welcoming by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 12^th Session of OIC-StatCom. She stressed that the Commission, the only platform for official statistics at the OIC level, has been instrumental in fostering cooperation and knowledge sharing among the OIC countries in the field of statistics. H.E. SELCUK underlined the pivotal role of SESRIC as the Secretariat of OIC Statistical Commission.

Additionally, she also mentioned that SESRIC conducted more than 500 statistical activities for the benefit of OIC member countries throughout the years based on successful execution of South-South cooperation modality.

On his part, H.E. AL-DOSSARI thanked the efforts exerted by SESRIC to enhance cooperation among member countries in the field of statistical exchange and training. The GASTAT President reaffirmed GASTAT’s support for all efforts aimed at developing statistical services.

H.E. SELÇUK and H.E. AL-DOSSARI expressed their desire to consider new areas for cooperation in official statistics.

GASTAT is the only official reference for statistical data and information that cover all aspects of life in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranging from GDP, labour, inflation, and others. It plays a critical strategic role in supporting the Saudi national economy since it provides decision and policy makers with various statistical data, products and indicators that contribute to achieving the objective of Saudi Arabia’s Vision (2030).