The delegation of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) led by Oleg Cara, Director General of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), participated in the 2025 High Level Seminar (HLS) on statistical cooperation for the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy East and Central Asia Countries (ENP-East and CAC), on the theme „Official statistics in a changing world: value, efficiency and readiness for the future of statistics”.

The event took place from 14-16 May 2025 in Budva, Montenegro, and was organized by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), in cooperation with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

The seminar participants - representatives of international organizations, heads of national statistical offices from the participating countries as well as international statistical experts - shared information and best practices on the most recent and significant developments in official statistics across ENP-East and CAC. They also outlined development priorities in the field of official statistics and future expectations for technical cooperation.

During the event the main achievements in the modernization of official statistics in the Republic of Moldova were highlighted, including: data collection for the 2024 Population and Housing Census (PHC), in particular the conduction of Post-Enumeration Survey and the over coverage evaluation study within PHC, as well as the presentation of the preliminary PHC results in January 2025. Other important milestones included the launch of a new sampling framework in January 2025 for household surveys (Household Budget Survey and Labour Force Survey) and the digitization of data collection in these surveys. Additionally, progress was noted in the expansion of innovation activities, including the use of administrative and private data sources for the production of new indicators requested by users, streamlining statistical work, reducing the information burden on respondents. The redesign of 5 (five) statistical surveys to ensure further alignment with EU standards, was also undertaken etc. The main priorities presented by the NBS during the event, to continue optimizing the production of official statistics through the modernization of statistical processes, improving the content and accessibility of statistical information, as well as enhancing communication with data users to increase the use of official statistical information and foster statistical literacy among data users.

The audience also expressed strong interest in the NBS's experience with the communication and information campaign for the PHC 2024, focused on the development and implementation of communication strategies which included targeted activities dedicated to specific population groups (e.g., ethnic and linguistic minorities, young and elderly people), who were part of the enumeration process. The presentation emphasized the importance of partnerships with central and local public authorities, civil society organizations, religious communities, as well as social and development partners. The 2024 PHC communication and promotion campaign was carried out with the support of the project „Support to the National Bureau of Statistics to conduct the 2024 Population and Housing Census”, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, with additional financial and technical support from other UN agencies (UNICEF, OHCHR, UNHCR, IOM, etc.), the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SADC), among others.

The High-level seminars are organized annually, representing events of major importance in the field of statistics. These events facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience, contributing significantly to the development of national statistical systems in aligning with international standards, particularly those of the EU standards.