The Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics (hereafter Global Strategy) that was endorsed by the United Nations Statistics Commission provides a framework to enable national and international statistical systems to produce and apply the basic data and information needed to guide decision making for food security and development in the 21st century.  The Global Strategy responds to the growing need for sustainable statistical systems that provide reliable and accurate data on agricultural and rural sectors that are comparable across time and country. These are indispensable for evidence-based policy on poverty reduction, reduced food price volatility and sustainable use of natural resources (especially in light of climate change) in Asia and the Pacific. The Global Strategy has three pillars: (i) the establishment of a minimum set of core data that countries will collect to meet current and emerging demands, (ii) the integration of agriculture into national statistical systems in order to satisfy the demands of policy makers and other users who rely on comparable data across locations and time, and (iii) the foundation that will ensure sustainability of the agricultural statistics systems through governance and statistical capacity building.The pillars of the Global Strategy are consistent with the approach of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in using evidence-based policy making for improving development outcomes.  The outputs of the Global Strategy support ADB's strategic agenda of inclusive growth. As a major partner of governments in promoting inclusive growth, it is recommended that ADB should actively participate in the implementation of the Global Strategy in Asia and the Pacific.  ADB should influence the major stakeholders in (i) developing a workable implementation plan in the region, (ii) enjoining countries to include the agricultural and rural statistics in monitoring their development plans through policy dialogues, and (iii) undertaking methodological research to develop a cost-effective and reliable data collection strategy for agricultural and rural statistics that can be adopted by countries in Asia and the Pacific.