Page 115 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 4

CPS2145 Jee, Hui-Siang Brenda et al.

Asymmetry of international trade statistics: a
focus on Sarawak’s liquefied natural gas (lng)
trade with Japan
Jee, Hui-Siang Brenda, Kiew, Leh-Yieng, Omar, Surhardi, Yahya, Roslawati
Department of Statistics Malaysia, Sarawak

Abstract
In the era of globalisation and trade liberalisation, international trade is
perceived as a major driver of economic growth. The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development also recognises international trade as an engine for
inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction, and an important means to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In relation to this, the
compilation of quality data needs to be fulfilled. However, in international
trade statistics, it has faced challenges of inconsistency that can be examined
through mirror analysis. In this paper, we intend to discuss the asymmetry
trade statistics of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between Sarawak and Japan from
the year 2008 to 2017. By applying bilateral trade discrepancy index, the results
of the study showed that data discrepancy of Sarawak’s LNG exports to Japan
was positive. This indicates that the reported exports by Sarawak were less
than the reported imports by Japan. However, the degree of discrepancy was
relatively low, in the range of 3.0% to 14.0% that were influenced by trade
valuation, exchange rate and other factors. Although it is difficult to eradicate
these issues in international trade, it is however important to measure and
identify the cause of asymmetry in future studies for the purpose of compiling
better quality statistics.

Keywords
Mirror Analysis; Exports; Trade Discrepancy.

1. Introduction
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods and services across
1
international borders or territories . In the era of globalisation and trade
liberalisation, international trade is perceived as a major driver of economic
growth. As stated in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(2018), “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises
international trade as an engine for inclusive economic growth and poverty
reduction, and an important means to achieve the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs)”.
In relation to this, the compilation of quality data needs to fulfil several
dimensions such as data completeness, consistency, accuracy, validity and

1 Definition of international trade is referred from Wikipedia (2018)
104 | I S I W S C 2 0 1 9