SAESM from Nov 29 - Dec 4
by Gamini WARUSHAMANA
The 7th South Asian Economics Students' Meet (SAESM) will be held
from November 29 to December 4 in Colombo with the participation of
undergraduate economics students from universities in the South Asia
region, said the coordinator of the event Senior Lecturer of the
University of Colombo Dr. Sirimal Aberathne.
The theme of this year's conference is "Economic Freedom and Poverty
Reduction in South Asia".
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Sri Lankan delegation
at the 6th SAESM |
The event provides an opportunity to economics undergraduates of Sri
Lankan universities to meet their counterparts of the region and
interact and learn from each other with exposure and training in
academic paper presentations. The conference is organised by the
undergraduate students under the guidance of staff members and will
consists of students' conference, quiz competition, budding economics
competition and a field trip for foreign participants.
These students will be the future leaders, policy makers and managers
with greater integration in the future, Dr. Aberathne said.
"SAEMS is organised for 250 participants including 54 from
universities in the region. Sri Lankan participants are from the
University of Colombo and other universities including the University of
Jaffna and the Eastern University.
We have invited the economics departments of all universities to
participate at this event," said Dr. Aberathne.
SAESM, was begun in 2003 by the academic staff of four leading
universities namely. Ramajas College-University of Delhi, India, Lahore
University of Management Science, Pakistan, University of Dhaka,
Bangladesh and University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The objective was to promote understanding of economic development
and regional cooperation amongst students.
SAESM was held in 2004 in New Delhi, 2005 in Lahore, 2006 in Dhaka,
2007 in Colombo, 2008 in New Delhi and 2009 in Dhaka.
The event is organised with financial sponsorship from governments,
private sector institutions and donor agencies.
Ven. Dr. Wimalarathna said that although students are familiar with
economic concepts, theories and issues their exposure to practical
situations and how to apply theories to analyse practical issues is
limited.
This year the students who participate at SAESM will be able to
improve their knowledge and experience related to economic freedom, he
said.
"I was privileged to attend the 6th SAESM held in Dhaka last year. It
was a platform for young economists in our region to share their
knowledge, views and opinions on socio-economic challenges in our
region, said M. Kesavarajah, a final year economics undergraduate of the
University of Colombo.
One of the outcomes was the network of young economists.
The hospitality of our counterparts in the host country was
impressive and this year we will do our best to make SAESM successful
and provide all facilities for the participants.
I strongly believe that this meet will generate enthusiasm among the
young economists in the region", Kesavarajah said.
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