APERC’s Energy Statistics and Training Office (ESTO) shared its knowledge and experience at the International Workshop on Energy Statistics for Sustainable Development, held on 21–23 September 2026 in Beihai, China. The workshop was organized by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), with support from APERC and the UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), and in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA). It brought together energy statisticians to strengthen capacity in compiling energy statistics and balances through lectures, practical exercises, and exchanges of experiences. Sessions covered basic energy statistics, international classifications, energy balances, greenhouse gas inventories, weather data, and data dissemination. Participants included four APEC economies: the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the host economy; Hong Kong, China (HKC); Indonesia; and Viet Nam. Participants also came from Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Maldives, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

ESTO’s Senior Researcher Dr Matthew DUMLAO contributed to several technical sessions. He led the session on biofuels, electricity, and heat, supported practical exercises on basic energy statistics with UNSD, and delivered the session on energy balances together with the IEA. Biofuels are an important part of the energy mix in many developing APEC economies, while evolving electricity systems and the growing importance of heat, renewable energy and new technologies present emerging challenges for energy statisticians. The workshop’s focus on energy balances also reinforced the importance of following internationally harmonized concepts, definitions and methodologies. The International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES) provide this common framework, consistent with EGEDA’s approach to collecting, compiling and managing comparable energy statistics across APEC economies.

ESTO/APERC is honored to be invited to assist in this workshop and would welcome opportunities to contribute to future capacity-building efforts in energy statistics. APERC’s research and analysis rely on complete, high-quality energy data, and efforts to strengthen the collection, compilation and management of energy statistics ultimately contribute to better data for everyone. Participation in the workshop directly supports ESTO’s role as secretariat of the APEC Expert Group on Energy Data and Analysis (EGEDA), including training energy statisticians from APEC member economies, implementing energy statistics training courses and participating in international cooperation on energy statistics. The workshop provided a valuable opportunity to advance EGEDA’s capacity-building mandate, continue ESTO/APERC’s longstanding collaboration with UNSD and strengthen cooperation with the host economy, PRC.