Datuk Ramesh Chander (born 19 August 1935) is a development economist, a former Chief Statistician of Malaysia, and former Statistical Adviser at the World Bank.
He pioneered the development of the Malaysian statistical system and was instrumental in the development of the New Economic Policy after 1969. In 1977, he was invited to join the World Bank as its Statistical Adviser. At the Bank, he designed the World Bank's flagship statistical abstract, the World Development Indicators. In his capacity as the Statistical Adviser, he was actively engaged in statistical capacity-building in member countries. He also played a major role in the development of statistical standards, which included the 1993 System of National Accounts and the methodology for the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Survey program for collecting household data.
After retiring from the World Bank in 1996, he became an independent consultant and took on several assignments. He founded an independent consultancy named the Cresset Research Group (CRG). The CRG was actively engaged in advising international development institutions and countries in the creation of sustainable statistical systems.
Early years and education
Born in Kuantan, Pahang, Ramesh Chander had a challenging childhood conditioned by the Japanese Occupation of Malaya during the Second World War and the disruptions associated with the early years of the Malayan Emergency.
In 1953, he completed secondary school at Abdullah School, Kuantan, whereupon he went on to the Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland. He graduated with an honors degree in Economics, Politics and Philosophy in 1958. In later years, he completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Chief Statistician of Malaysia
In 1958, he returned to a newly independent Malaya and joined the Federal Department of Statistics as an economic statistician. In 1963 at age 28, he was appointed the Chief Statistician of Malaya, becoming the first Malaysian national to hold the position. He was also the youngest head of a Federal department at the time and worked closely with the country's founding Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
As the Chief Statistician, he developed a fully functioning statistical system. He pioneered the use of integrated household surveys for the collection of information for poverty analysis and the compilation of socio-economic indicators. He also carried out the landmark 1970 Census of Population and Housing. The Chief Statistician was a key player in the formulation of economic policies. He was part of the team that developed the New Economic Policy, which was the basis for Malaysia's affirmative action policies promoting ethnic Malay advancement.
Landmark 1970 census
In 1968, he began planning the 1970 Census, the first to be undertaken after Malaysian independence. After the May 1969 race riots in Malaysia, the Census became a politically sensitive project as the data would bring to light disparities among the country's ethnic groups. The successful Census undertaking was particularly challenging as there was no institutional memory from prior national censuses.
Under his leadership, the Census was innovative in several ways. Using the latest available computing technology in the Malaysian government, the Census pioneered the use of new optical scanning technology. The Malaysian approach was adopted by other countries in the region. By the early 1970s, the Malaysian statistical system had come of age. It not only generated a full range of quality data but had a growing research capacity. With the available data, Malaysia was able to engage in collaborative studies with the World Bank and other institutions.
The Census formed a key data source for the development of Malaysia's New Economic Policy, which promoted affirmative action for ethnic Malays in order to avoid the political strife that led to the 1969 riots. He also developed a framework for monitoring New Economic Policy targets and goals.
Economic development
He developed the Malaysian statistical system from a small entity of 200 persons to 2000 persons between 1963 and 1977 through a systematic expansion program for producing policy-relevant statistics. As a result, the Malaysian statistical system became a recognized and respected institution in the international statistical system.