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Jerusalem, May 30, 2018159/2018

The EU funded Twinning Project between the Central Bureau of Statistics and Statistics Denmark on Enhancing the Quality of Official Statistics in Israel marked

its achievements by a celebratory closing eventThe Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) marked the end of a 30 month twinning project funded by

the European Union. The overall objective of the project was to enhance the quality of official statistics in Israel.

On Wednesday, May 30th, more than 200 participants from Israel and Europe were present at the event

that took place in Jerusalem, in order to celebrate the achievements of the Twinning Project as well as the

launching of the National Statistical System in Israel. Many distinguished guests were present, among

them Prof. Danny Pfeffermann, the National Statistician of Israel and Head of the ICBS, Mr. Emanuele Giaufret, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel, Ms. Signe Biering Nielsen, the

Deputy Ambassador of Denmark to Israel, Prof. Reuben Gronau, Chairman of The Public Council for

Statistics (Israel), Mr. Carsten Zangenberg Director of Communication & Sales, Statistics Denmark, as

well as Directors from Statistics Denmark, the ICBS and Israeli Ministries. The event opened with the key

speaker of the event Dr. Karnit Flug, Governor of the Bank of Israel, who emphasized the importance of

data as a basis for informed decision making.

Twinning is a European Union initiative to help acceding candidate countries or neighbouring countries

acquire the necessary skills and experience to adopt, implement and enforce EU legislation. In this project,

the ICBS worked in collaboration with Statistics Denmark and with other European Statistical Bureaus in

order to align official statistics with standards, guidelines, and best practices in the EU and in international

organizations (e.g. OECD).

Among the remarks said at Wednesday's event, were the following:

The Twinning project is funded by the European union

Prof. Danny Pfeffermann, the National Statistician of Israel and head of the CBS: "I am pleased to

announce that we have already begun implementing the main issues that were investigated and developed

during the twinning project: we formally began in the development of a national statistical system as part of

quality in official statistics, we have begun planning the remote access system for researchers all while

ensuring data and privacy, improving the quality of the data and the products and improving the databases

on agriculture. The twinning project undoubtedly contributed to improving the activity of the CBS and I

would like to thank everyone for that".

Emanuele Giaufret, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel: "Twinning is one

of our most successful programmes in Israel, which supports initiatives of Israeli ministries and agencies to

learn from European expertise, and harmonize regulations. This official cooperation, together with member

states, brings the EU and Israel closer in many fields including law, education, health, environmental

protection, transportation, agriculture, data security, consumer protection and equal opportunity in

employment.”

Ms. Signe Biering Nielsen, Deputy Ambassador of Denmark to Israel: "When the best of the European

Statistical System descended on Israel to support a further developing of official statistics in Israel – we all

invested our time and resources on an issue that is of critical importance to our common democratic basis.

We wanted to ensure availability of credible information – including official statistics. For businesses, for

research – and for the public. We are standing in the middle of a tornado. A tornado that challenges the

very concept of facts - doubting whether such a thing exists. I believe credible information does exist. You

are all working hard to prove that it exists. I think our governments will keep on insisting on top quality and

reliable facts, also called “official statistics”. Living up to strict criteria, compatible information, and needless

to say: independent".

Mr. Carsten Zangenberg, Director of Communication and Sales, Statistics Denmark: "For Statistics

Denmark Twinning is great opportunity to develop our relations with other countries and the knowledge and

competences of our staff when we work together on common problems. Producing official statistics is no

easy task and should be practices with humility. Systematic work on improving and documenting the quality

of statistics is necessary to ensure that all users have the necessary trust in the data and information

produced and branded as official statistics. In a world of alternative facts or “fake news” trustworthy,

independent, high quality official statistics is more and more important and should be considered an

essential part of national infrastructure".

Prof. Reuben Gronau, Chairman of The Public Council for Statistics (Israel): "The Central Bureau of

Statistics stands naturally at a crossroad that gives it a comparative advantage in the concentration of

information found in various areas of life. It leads this process thanks to accumulated experience and

aspiration to objectivity. There are many more challenges to address in terms of the pace of dissemination

and updating, transparency, cost and accessibility, and I welcome the twinning initiative and other efforts

being made in this direction. Improvement in these areas is crucial".

2The EU funded Twinning Project between the Central Bureau of Statistics and Statistics Denmark on Enhancing the Quality of Official Statistics in Israel marked its achievements by a celebratory closing event30/05/2018

Bank of Israel Governor Dr. Karnit Flug demonstrated how data from business trends survey,

longitudinal survey and adult skills survey (PIAAC) help make financial decisions and monitor economic

developments: "It is very important to have up-to-date and reliable statistical data in decision-making

processes. In the end, such information makes the decisions better. "

During the day, the participants discussed the importance of using data in decision-making processes, as

well as quality management as a critical element in producing valuable official statistics. Quality

management of official statistics was one of the main components of the Twinning Project. It is one of the

elements of the process of establishing a coordinated Israeli national statistical system. The event included

presentations describing International and Israeli experience in statistical quality management and

coordination as well as discussions of the issues they raised.

Two project leaders supervised the Twinning Project, Mr. Yoel Finkel of the ICBS and Mr. Jesper Jensen of

Statistics Denmark. A Resident Twinning Adviser, Ms. Charlotte Nielsen of Statistics Denmark, managed

the project on a day-to-day basis alongside her ICBS counterpart. Additional experts from Statistics

Denmark and other European Statistical Offices guided and supported the project by means of a series of

working groups, workshops, and training sessions, as well as study visits to Europe. The European Union

funded this project with a budget of 1,200,000 Euros.

The Twinning Project, which began in March 2016 and will end on September 2018 (duration of 30

months), included four components: Quality management of official statistics, micro-data services to

researchers, infrastructures for agricultural statistics and methodological and geo-spatial tools for improving

the quality and the efficiency of field surveys.

Press contacts: ICBS: Eran Ropalidis +972-2-652-2037

3The EU funded Twinning Project between the Central Bureau of Statistics and Statistics Denmark on Enhancing the Quality of Official Statistics in Israel marked its achievements by a celebratory closing event30/05/2018