Abu Dhabi, 10th May, 2014 (WAM) -- Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi (SCAD) announced the launch of its Economic Surveys 2014, one of the emirate?s key projects. This year?s programme covers the activities of economic establishments for the year 2013. SCAD?s enumerators, supervisors, and technical personnel have embarked on the implementation of the project, which seeks to build a sophisticated database on three major economic sectors in the emirate to meet the rising need for data, in light of the unprecedented economic development and growth currently experienced by the emirate. The survey excludes the activities of agriculture and the government sector.

A New QuestionnaireAs SCAD pointed out, these surveys will be using a new of the questionnaire design, being introduced for the first time in the Arab world. The new questionnaire reflects the structure of the business accounts to suit the targeted economic establishments and make it easier for the personnel concerned to fill in the form, using the same terminology of their account books and financial statements, thus ensuring higher data quality and improving the response rate.

Significance of the SurveysSCAD noted that the planned economic surveys are intended to provide the core information needed to build a state-of-the-art database of economic statistics on the economic activities of the establishments operating in all areas of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Gharbia). This information will be used in estimating the contribution of these activities to the Emirate?s economy.

The activities coveredThe surveys will cover establishments operating in mining and quarrying, manufacturing, production and distribution of electricity, water and sanitation , and the construction, wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and storage, media and communications, financial activities and insurance (banks and brokerage services and insurance) , in addition to the activities of the services sector, which includes a variety of services such as hotels and restaurants, real estate services, health, education , legal, accounting , personal social , sports and other services .

Objectives of the Economic Survey ProgrammeAccording to SCAD the programme aims to provide the data necessary for compilation of national accounts and estimation of the contribution of the activities surveyed to the gross domestic product. The data collected will also support the formulation and measurement of economic policy in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, besides serving the needs of businesses and investors to make informed and appropriate decisions and to enable them to evaluate their investment decisions.

The surveys data will be used in the creation of a comprehensive statistical database for the Emirate. This database will cover the conventional economic sectors as well as the Emirates? ten future development activities. The database will also provide data to assess the extent of economic diversification and development in non-oil sectors. Additionally, the survey results will provide the baseline data to monitor the progress made towards achieving Abu Dhabi Government?s agenda, and Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 contributing towards building an advanced statistical system that produces detailed data on the economy of the Emirate.

The Data RequiredAs SCAD indicated, the form to be distributed to the targeted establishments include some important information such as the number of commercial registration license issued by the Department of Economic Development, the core economic activity, financial year, sector, number of employees, wages and salaries in cash and the benefits in-kind granted to employees, supplies of intermediate goods and services, income and other expenses, fixed assets and other important details about the establishments.

The sample sizeSCAD will survey a sample of 5 thousands establishments spread across the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and in most cases, each establishments will fill in one, two forms, or three forms, depending on the number of their economic activities. He pointed out that the selected sample is considered representative of all types of establishments in the emirate in terms of size and geographical distribution.

Completing the questionnaireA hard copy of the survey questionnaire will be provided for completion by the establishments. SCAD will also send an SMS with a hyperlink to an electronic version of the questionnaire to make it easier for establishments to provide the data requested in future surveys.

Staffing:The project staff received an extensive training that covered three core themes, namely economic activities, foreign investment and the environment. The project teamare well versed in all technical and conceptual aspects of the survey.

Data confidentialityAll the data provided will be treated as strictly confidential and used only for the purposes of the survey, pursuant to the law establishing Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi.

A call for cooperationThe planned surveys require a high level of cooperation from the targeted establishments. Therefore Statistics Centre ? Abu Dhabi appeals to all those concerned to provide the data requested in the survey questionnaire and to extend any necessary assistance to SCAD?s interviewers in order for the surveys to achieve its aspired objectives.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2014.