South Asia Economics Students’ Meet (SAESM)

The concept of a Conference, which advocates understanding of the developmental issues of the region as well as inculcates bonding amongst students of economics of the region, was the mission behind the setting up of a student level Conference for undergraduate economics majors students of South Asian region. Such a concept was initiated by students of batch 2002-05 and faculty of the Department of Economics of Ramjas College and was co-supported by three other institutions — Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan; Dhaka University, Bangladesh; and University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Since its inauguration in January 2004, SAESM has now completed four annual international meets, in New Delhi, Lahore, Dhaka and Colombo. The first meet hosted by Ramjas College, had students from these countries and India presenting papers on a theme titled ‘Economic reforms in South Asia - Which Way Ahead?’ Students also contested for the Budding Economist Award of the Region, which was won by a student from Presidency College, Kolkata, India. The first meet saw apart from students of University of Delhi, students from Lady Brabourne College - Kolkata, RA Poddar - Mumbai, Pragjyotish College - Guwahati, St Josephs - Bangalore, participating in the Conference.

The second meet was held in the historic city of Lahore 2005 and students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka presented papers on various interesting issues in economics - Poverty, Human capital, International Trade, State versus Markets, Environment, and Corporate Governance. Each student presented these interesting issues from his/her own country perspective and experiences. A new segment added to this student level Conference was the Inter-Country Economics Quiz challenge. In the year 2006, the Conference travelled to Dhaka, where Dhaka University played the host. Some new economic issues of relevance to students were discussed and presented by students in the form of papers. Students of Delhi University represented India. The topics discussed include themes like Religion, Corruption and their relevance in Economics, SAFTA, Micro finance to name a few. Last year, the University of Colombo organized the 4th meet in the city of Colombo. The meet was notable for the entry of Nepal as the 5th country, in the form of Tribhubhan University. Students of University of Mumbai and Jadavpur, apart from Delhi University, represented India for the first time in this meet. A wide array of interesting topic ranging from trade in services to economics of aging population was discussed and deliberated upon. Lahore University of Management Sciences won the Inter-country Economics Quiz.

The Conference also promotes the concept of a retreat to follow the hectic Conference sessions, where students compete against each other for the awards. The retreat allows the students of the region to interact with members of the other countries in an atmosphere free of any kind of competitive behaviour. So far, retreats have been held at Jaipur & Agra (2004), Islamabad (2005), Cox Bazaar (2006) and Kandy, Nuyra Elliya & Bentota (2006). The four annual meets of South Asian economics undergraduate students have been huge successes and have resulted in providing students of the region a platform to discuss and deliberate economic and other issues that confront the region. Further, it has also seen the bonding of tomorrow’s budding economist. In the years to come it is hoped that SAESM will grow into a wider forum of South Asian Economics Students, the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The 5th Edition of the SAESM will be held at the University of Delhi in the year 2008.