TERHAN, 27 July 2009 (UNIC) - In a move to help China and other developing Asian countries improve the quality of their statistical reporting, the United Nations recently has signed its first-ever trust-fund agreement for technical cooperation with the world’s most populous State.

The large, five-year project was established to advance the use of reliable and up-to-date statistics, considered the foundation for effective national development policies, in developing countries in the region.

“In a globalizing economy, tackling economic crises and addressing social and environmental issues call for more availability of official statistics at the national, regional and global levels,” said Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, at the signing ceremony in Beijing.

“As we often say in China, those who do not have the facts should refrain from making decisions,” Mr. Zukang told the gathering, stressing that importance of statistics in decision-making can never be over-estimated.