ICP-Western Asia

In line with the global ICP program, the objective of ICP-Western Asia is to build an effective regional program, with the aim of producing and disseminating credible and quality bilateral and regional PPP indices and comparable PPP-adjusted GDP estimates, based on the collection of consistent, coherent and timely country data on prices and expenditures.

The ICP-Western Asia regional office was established by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), which serves as the regional implementation agency. UN-ESCWA carries out the implementation of the new ICP round at the regional level and coordinates the related activities. At the country level, the implementation of ICP activities is carried out by the offices of the ICP national coordinators, appointed by the national implementation agencies. The ICP-Western Asia Executive Board, whose membership includes selected ESCWA countries as well as donor organizations, monitors the progress in the implementation of the program at the regional level.

The PPP data, the main output of the ICP program, would provide means for:

• Comparing economic values between countries that provide for differences in purchasing power that are not captured in market exchange rates.
• Assessing the real progress being made by countries, and also monitoring and comparing poverty levels, e.g. measuring progress towards the MDG on poverty reduction.

In this context, UN-ESCWA, like other participating regional agencies, aims to complete successfully this 2005 Round of the ICP in the region during the period 2004 to 2007, paying particular attention to data quality. In support of this strategy, targeted measures were initiated by the UN-ESCWA to:

1. Establish the ICP Governance Framework at the regional and national levels for effective management and coordination;
2. Mobilize funding to provide a secure base for the 2005 ICP Round;
3. Improve quality by establishing and fostering knowledge on improved technical and procedural standards and guidelines;
4. Motivate participating countries through participatory approach, training, national statistical capacity building and incentives;
5. Establish the greatest possible synergy between the ICP data collection efforts and regular national statistical programs on price and national accounts statistics;
6. Involve stakeholders and users to seek their support for building the image and credibility of ICP and fund raising.

The UN-ESCWA, the ICP-Western Asia Executive Board, and the national ICP implementation agencies are committed to the effective implementation of the program and prepared to stand for the quality, timeliness and comparability of PPP data to display their sense of ownership.

For more information, visit http://www.escwa.org.lb/icp/index.htm

View the List of Participating Countries

Contact for the ICP-Western Asia program - Tarik Alami - Email: alamit.un.org