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The Third Workshop on the International Comparison Program
for Western Asia was held at the Marriott Hotel during
the period 11-15 October 2004. At the meantime, training
on the ICP Tool Pack took place in the UN House in
Beirut.
Twenty-five officials, including ICP National Coordinators
and Price Statisticians, from 11 member countries
participated in the workshop. Also, the World Bank ICP
Deputy Global Manager, two international consultants and
all the ICP team at ESCWA have participated and
contributed several papers to the workshop.
The workshop papers and discussions were focusing on the
upcoming price survey in January 2005, including issues
on pricing procedures & product selection, outlet
choices, preparation of expenditure weights, the role of
the survey supervisors, training the data collectors, and
the coordination and monitoring role of the Global
Office. The workshop concluded how the regional
coordinator and the national coordinators would set up
and conduct price surveys in member countries.
The workshop also included a round table discussion on the
countries’ readiness for conducting price surveys.
Countries shared their experiences with the international
experts, discussed the survey framework, and raised
various issues facing the planning and execution of price
collection. Potential challenges to carry out proper work
were thoroughly discussed.
During the last two days of the workshop, the ICP regional
Office provided most of the participants with detailed
training on the installation and usage of the ICP Tool
Pack software. Giving the participants some practical
exercises that familiarized them with the software
finished the training session . These exercises were
highly interactive and instructive.
Parallel to the Tool Pack training, Mr. Mohamed
Al-Badrawy, ICP Regional Coordinator for Western Asia,
organized the Third Meeting for National Coordinators.
Mr. Abdelrahman Al-Mansouri, Chairman of the ICP
Executive Board, chaired the meeting. Also, Mr. Yonas
Biru, Deputy Global Manager of the ICP Global Office at
the World Bank and a specialized consultant participated
in this meeting. The discussions involved many technical
issues, then focused on administrative matters.
Agenda
List of Participants
Papers Presented
Workshop Photos
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