For the inclusive and sustainable development of the economy in any country, production and use of accurate, timely and reliable statistics is very important, particularly for effective policy making and evaluation. However, the status of development of official statistics in many developing countries still needs to be improved, mainly due to the insufficiency of trained human resources. To develop their statistical capability, to improve the quality of their statistical products and to improve the use of statistics for evidence-based decision-making are the main objectives of SIAP. The aim of the Institute is to promote the capability development of government officials/statisticians for economic and social development of the developing countries.

The core training courses of SIAP [SIAP/JICA Residential courses] are conducted at its premises in Chiba, Japan with participation of government officials from developing countries.

Many other training courses are conducted in developing countries of Asia and the Pacific. SIAP lecturers are dispatched to the host countries of the training programme to deliver the training. Many officials who have been trained at SIAP are now holding important posts in national statistical services.

The coverage of the training curriculum is very wide, from methodological issues to practical exercises, including analytical methods in statistics, survey methodologies, the statistical business process, and specialized domains of social, population, gender, economic, agricultural and rural, and environment statistics. The programmes aim to improve knowledge and skills of official statisticians and government officials in producing, disseminating and using quality statistics and modernizing national statistical institutions.

In SIAP/JICA Residential courses, learning from Japan is another important objective. Visits to major statistical offices of the Government of Japan and Japanese local governments are organized to learn best practices of Japan in data collection and editing, production, use and dissemination of official statistics and effective work coordination between local and central government.

Recently, SIAP is expanding the delivery of internet-based e-learning courses in order to accommodate increasing demand for statistical training.