On 4-5 November 2023, Dr. Shankar Shrestha (Executive Director, NDRI) and Dr. Rudra Suwal (Lead, Economic Development Program, NDRI) participated in the 14th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES XIV) held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. SAES XIV was organized by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka Bangladesh in partnership with Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Sri Lanka; Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan. The theme for SAES XIV was “Reframing South Asian Regional Cooperation in the New Context: National and Global Dimensions”.
The overarching objective of the SAES XIV was to search for a new South Asian Deal in view of the emergent national, regional, and global developments. The specific objectives were (i) to generate a shared understanding of the changed landscape by exploring new elements that inform national, regional, mega-regional and global contexts in which cooperation will need to take place among countries of South Asia, (ii) to identify and promote modalities and potential opportunities to advance the cause of regional cooperation in South Asia; and, (iii) to explore the roles of the knowledge actors and political leadership envisioning the journey of South Asia in the next decade.
SAES XIV included an inaugural session, three interactive plenary sessions, nine parallel thematic sessions (covering the areas of regional cooperation in the field of transport, macroeconomic cooperation, integrated energy grid, climate change, labour market management, FDI, public health and gender equality among others) and a closing session.
Dr. Shrestha and Dr. Suwal from NDRI were invited to serve as panelists for the sessions entitled “Towards an Integrated Energy Grid” and “Cooperation in Public Health” respectively. In his deliberation, among others, Dr. Shrestha emphasized the need of clean energy trade and proper energy mix (hydropower from Nepal and Bhutan can replace fossil fuels and balance the variable solar and wind energy in the region) for energy grid stabilization and greater supply reliability in the South Asian region. Similarly, Dr. Suwal, in his deliberation, highlighted the need for South Asian countries to built their system more assertively with their public health needs and emphasized that the alleviation of South Asia's poor health status requires better priority settings, enough financial provision and increased investment to achieve universal education and improved health performance.
SAES XIV was participated by distinguished personnel from the South Asian region including policymakers, business leaders, development practitioners and international development partners such as Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP (Hon'ble Speaker, Bangladesh Parliament), Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP (Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh), Mr Md. Jashim Uddin (President, SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Bangladesh), Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe (Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka), Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada (Former Finance Minister and Former Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal), Dr. Swarnim Wagle (Member, Federal Parliament of Nepal), Professor Dr. Govind Raj Pokharel (Former Vice-Chair, National Planning Commission, Nepal), Mr. Durga Bhattarai (Former Foreign Secretary, Nepal), Mr. Madhuraman Acharya (Former Foreign Secretary, Nepal) and Dr. Posh Raj Pandey (Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Nepal).
