Fifth South Asian Economics Students Meet

New Delhi, March 12, 2008: Young students of economics from colleges and universities across South Asia came together under a unique regional platform called the South Asian Economics Students Meet (SAESM) to participate in various academic activities that could help foster an intellectual bonding amongst budding economists of the region. First of its kind in the world, this year the SAESM Summit was held in New Delhi from March 10 to12. Each country participated with a team of up to 13 students and two academic staff members.

Today South Asia is not only the world’s second fastest growing region, but is also a region with the largest concentration of poverty in the world. Hence, the focus of this SAESM was on the “Economic challenges in making South Asia free from hunger and deprivation”, an extremely relevant topic for tomorrow’s South Asia, which is experiencing rapid growth on one hand, but with many economic challenges.   

Originally conceived by the faculty of Ramjas College, Delhi University, this year’s conference was spearheaded by Ramjas and Miranda House Colleges in Delhi and co-supported by the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh; University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; Tribhuban University, Nepal; Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan; and the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. From a modest beginning in New Delhi (2004), the conference has traveled to Lahore (2005), Dhaka (2006) and Colombo (2007).    

At the inaugural session, Shekhar Shah, World Bank’s Regional Economic Adviser, South Asia spoke about the enormous potential such collaborations hold for South Asia, considered to be the least integrated regions of the world. “The gains from greater trade openness and from FDI into each others’ countries can be tremendous. Real change can also come from the professional, and dare I say, personal interactions across borders.  SAESM invests in those future contacts, and in promoting research capabilities and presentation skills.  For most of the students here, this is probably their first opportunity to submit a paper and to make a presentation at an international conference, and also the first opportunity to witness such an event,” Mr Shah said.

“In my view, in looking for solutions that work best in specific situations, the fresh perspectives that you young economists will bring to the table can add to our understanding of what works and what doesn’t.  So it is very important that those of us in the development business listen,” he added.

On behalf of the World Bank, which was the principal sponsor of the event this year, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, Operations Adviser welcomed the students.

The next day students presented papers covering the following themes:

• Accelerating Rural Growth and Empowering the Rural Poor;
• Investing in the Social Sectors;
• Improving the Quality of Infrastructure;
• Accountability, Institutions and Economic Growth.

The other activities included an Inter-Country Economics Quiz to test the students’ understanding of the economic challenges facing South Asia, a Budding Economist Competition and a Rapporteurship Competition. While the quiz competition was won by the Pakistan team, the much-awaited competition – Budding Economist of South Asia –   went to a student from Bangladesh. The student won this competition after undergoing four grueling stages – an essay on “Microfinance, Self-Help groups and Poverty”; a series of short answer tests in Economic Theory, Quantitative Techniques and Economic Development; a visual-based ex-tempore and analysis; and an interview.             

Economists from the World Bank also provided a perspective on some of the key challenges facing the region. Priya Basu, Lead Economist, South Asia Region presented on “South Asia: The Challenge of Accelerating and Sustaining Growth”; Dina Umali-Deininger, Lead Agriculture Economist, World Bank made a presentation on “Revitalizing Agriculture and Rural Development to Sustain Growth and Reduce Poverty.”   

Rajni Khanna, Senior Economist, World Bank gave away prizes to winners from various contests, including the “Budding Economist of the Region” award.

Three days of hard work by the students and faculty was also interspersed by some lighter moments. A concert called Aaj Basant Manaaley (Come Celebrate Spring) was organized by the World Bank to give a flavor of India ’s rich cultural heritage. A retreat to Agra and Jaipur helped students understand each others’ socio-cultural backgrounds and interact in a non-competitive environment. See Brochure (2.92 mb.pdf)

Indeed, this Summit was a unique initiative in connecting budding economists of the region to think on what future leaders, policy makers and academicians need to deal with while grappling with the challenges facing South Asia today.