Budding SA economists due here for fourth undergrads parley

Budding South Asian economists will meet in Colombo from February 23-24 at the fourth South Asian economics undergraduates conference. It is organised by the Economics Department of the University of Colombo in collaboration with the World Bank.

The Country Coordinator of the event and senior lecturer of the University of Colombo, Dr. Sirimal Abeyratne said that the academic conference will comprise research paper presentations by the participating delegates with the support of senior academics of the relevant fields. Over 200 undergraduate delegates from major universities in the South Asia region will participate.

The South Asian Economics students Meet initiated in 2003 is coordinated by the Economics Departments in five leading universities in South Asia - University of Delhi (India), University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), Lahore University of Management Science (Pakistan), Tribhuvan University (Nepal) and University of Colombo (Sri Lanka).

The event has now evolved as a prime regional economics conference of undergraduates in the region, Dr. Abeyratne said. The inaugural conference was held in Delhi in 2004 and the second and third conferences were held in Lahore (2005) and Dhaka (2006) where 32 Sri Lankan undergraduates participated.

This is a novel initiative which provides an invaluable opportunity for undergraduate students to meet their co-fellows from other regional countries and gain an insight to the issues of regional cooperation and economic development.

The series of annual meetings which foster closer understanding and cooperation will help immensely in capacity building in economic research and enhancing economic analytical skills and meeting international standards demanded by a rapidly globalising economic and business environment, Dr. Abeyratne said.

This event will also be an opportunity for undergraduates to meet their co-fellows and exchange views in the peer group. This exercise aims at forming a regional body of budding economists in South Asia that enable undergraduates to undertake future leadership in managing development and cooperation for an emerging South Asian presence in the global set up, he said.

World Bank representative Sriyani Hulugalle said that investing in youth will be an investment for a better future for any country. The World Bank is financing important elements of building human capital through education projects for a very long time and has been active in all sectors of education.

This is an important initiative, she said. It is sponsored by the Presidential Fund, Bank of Ceylon, DFCC Bank, DSI Samson Group and Royal Institute of Colombo.

(GW)