• The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) was held at Kathmandu.
• The theme of three day summit is “Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia”.
• The summit was organised by National Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce of Nepal and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal.

Background:

• South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) was started in 2008.
• It is a regional platform for discussing and analyzing economic and development issues and challenges faced by South Asian countries and advancing the cause of regional integration and cooperation.
• Envisaged as a Davos-like event in South Asia, the SAES brings together stakeholders from the government, private sector, research/academic community and civil society to generate innovative and actionable ideas for consideration by the region’s policymakers and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• The whole process is led by a group of five eminent think tanks that take turns to organize the annual event in one of the SAARC countries.
• The think tanks are Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh; Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan and Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), Sri Lanka.

Source:TH