External Events

SAESM 2019 REVIEW

Hiba Hassan, a Lahore School of Economics student was awarded the best paper award in the theme of Human Resource Development at the 15th South Asian Economics Students Meet (SAESM), a World Bank sponsored annual conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 21 to 26 of January 2019.

Hiba, who is in the fourth year of the BSc Economics program, presented her paper, 'Human Capabilities and Economic Growth' to a panel of cross country judges, including economists, experts and academics. The theme of this year's SAESM conference was centered on highlighting the major challenges and opportunities faced by the countries in the region. The conference also discussed the way forward to a more integrated South Asia. Pakistan's delegation consisted of ten students and each student participated in a corresponding competition along with presenting their papers in their respective themes. Pakistan's team also won the second position in the Quiz Competition, and one of the team members was also able to reach the final round of the very competitive Budding Economist Competition. SAESM started in 2003 with the idea of providing a platform for South Asian undergraduate students to interact, learn and exchange ideas on various economics issues.This year students from Seven South Asian Countries presented papers in ten different themes. The countries that participated included; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

In her own words, Hiba shares her experience:

"SAESM was an experience like none other. From the uniqueness of the place to the diversity of the people part of it, the entire conference has left me in awe. Presenting your paper in front of a cross country panel of judges and students from different areas of South Asia exposes you to a completely new dimension of learning. The people I got to interact with, the various South Asian cultures I got to experience wouldn't have been possible had SAESM not given me such a platform."

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