In the ENP-S countries, statistical business registers constitute an important and very often unique basis for drawing economic survey samples. Information from the SBR that are mostly used in drawing samples for business surveys and stratification are the size (in terms of employment or of turnover), the main activity, the legal form and the region are the criteria most used in stratification.

Representatives from seven ENP-S countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israël, Libya, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia) were present at the workshop and discussed their respective practices and experiences.

Administrative files are, for most countries, the main source for updating the SBR and, first of all, the data from the Ministry of Finance (tax records).

Economic surveys of companies also make it possible to correct and to update business register data (as in the recent cases of Egypt and Palestine).

The problem of file matching is always posed in the absence of a common identifier for businesses. Some countries have developed matching software based on alphabetic character recognition. It should be noted that in the last two years, most of the countries have established the common identifier system or are in the process of developing one.

The MEDSTAT IV project provides expertise and technical support to promote the harmonisation of statistics in line with EU and international standards in 6 domains: business register and business, trade and balance of payments, energy, labour market, migration and transport. It follows on the previous phase implemented over the period 2010-2013.

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MedStat IV