Economic students conference begins

The seventh South Asian Economic Students’ Meet 2010 (SAESM), commenced in Colombo yesterday.

The theme of the conference is Economic Freedom and Poverty Reduction in South Asia.The objective of the conference is to provide a platform for the university students in South Asia to promote their understanding of the issue of poverty reduction in the region in the light of ‘economic freedom’.

The concept - economic freedom - is largely misunderstood and disregarded in economic forums, compared to a heavily loaded concept of political freedom. Poverty reduction has to be sustained through rapid growth and employment generation, which requires economic freedom.

The historical development experience all around the world supports this relationship between economic freedom and poverty reduction. However, there is a misconception about the link between economic freedom and poverty reduction.

The economics students who will be the future partners of the development process in South Asia are also less familiar with the concept of economic freedom.

The SAESM 2010 will provide them an opportunity to quest for the key development issues in the region through the concept of economic freedom.

The conference will conclude on December 17.

The South Asian region has progressed slowly, compared to its neighbours in the East and Southeast Asian region.

The strong link between the economic freedom and the economic progress has been well-established in both theoretical and empirical studies.