Fifth International Conference on South Asian Eco Dev Begins at SAU 

Around 60 Noted Economists of South Asia as well as from Europe and USA will be presenting their research on issues of economic development, specifically focusing on the current development process in the South Asian region.

Onkareshwar Pandey

INDIAN OBSERVER POST

New Delhi, February 21, 2019: Fifth International Conference on South Asian Economic Development begins today at South Asian University, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.

The two-day conference (21-22February, 2019), is being organized by Faculty of Economics, South Asian University, New Delhi.

The South Asian region presents a study in contrasts. Despite growing at impressive rates over last decade and a half, the region is home to the largest concentration of the world's poor with abysmal levels of access to basic economic and social infrastructure.

In spite of sharing a common economic history that goes back several millennia, it remains one of the least integrated regions of the world, with large untapped benefits from greater economic integration among the nation-states as well as among the people.

Being part of a unique university with a mandate of inculcating regional consciousness among the citizens of South Asia, the Faculty of Economics envisions for itself a leading role in understanding the economic challenges and opportunities unique to this region.

Through this conference, Faculty of Economics, South Asian University strives to provide a platform for research containing methodological advances, both in economic theory and empirical methods, which would contribute to the understanding of the process of economic development in South Asia.

Around 60 presenters and discussants from institutions across South Asia (as well as from Europe and USA) will be presenting their research on issues of economic development, specifically focusing on the current development process in the South Asian region.

Apart from 14 technical sessions, the conference program includes a Keynote Lecture on the state of agriculture by Ramesh Chand, Member of NITI Aayog; a Plenary Lecture on the state of industry in India post liberalization by Professor R. Nagaraj from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR); an Inaugural Panel Discussion on the state of economic development in South Asia, featuring Rana Hasan (Director, Development Economics and Indicators Division, Asian Development Bank, Manila), Dushni Weerakoon (Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies, Colombo), and Wahiduddin Mahmud (Former Professor, University of Dhaka, Dhaka); and a Valedictory Panel Discussion on the political economy of development and democracy in South Asia, featuring Rohini Somanathan (Professor, Department of Economics, DelhiSchool of Economics, New Delhi), Satish Deshpande (Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi), Gurpreet Mahajan (Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), PrabhatPatnaik (Professor Emeritus, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), and Pulin Nayak (Former Professor, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi).

ABOUT SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY:

South Asian University (SAU) is an international university established, funded and maintained by the governments of the eight member nations of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) viz. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAU started its operations from the academic year 2010. The university now offers Masters and PhD research programs in seven disciplines that include Economics, Computer Science, Biotechnology, Applied Mathematics, Sociology, International Relations and Legal Studies. SAU attracts students from all over South Asia, and its degrees are recognized by all the eight SAARC countries. Many of its graduates have already found employment in the region and some have been offered higher education opportunities in countries beyond South Asia as well.The university is currently functioning from Akbar Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi and construction of the permanent campus has started over a 100 acre plot in Maidan Garhi, South Delhi in late May 2016.