Size not integration obstacle - German Ambassador

Economic integration in the South Asia region will be facilitated with political integration in the region, said German Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jens Uwe Ploerner.

He was addressing the 7th South Asian Economic Students' Meet (SAESM) 2007 which commenced in Colombo last Monday.

SAESM will continue until December 4 with the participation of undergraduate economics students from universities from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Ploerner said the integration of economics students, the future policymakers and economists in the region, will accelerate economic integration in the South Asia region.

Pointing out the experience in the EU, he said the size of a country is not an obstacle to regional integration. "Germany is a big country in the EU but Luxemberg is a small country. Economic integration has spill over effects," he said. The theme of this year conference is "Economic Freedom and Poverty Reduction in South Asia."

SAESM Sri Lanka Country coordinator Dr Sirimal Abeyrathne said SAESM provides a great opportunity to a large number of economic undergraduates of Sri Lankan Universities to meet their counterparts in the region and interact and learn from each other, exposure and training in academic paper presentations.

The 7th SAESM consists of students' conference, quiz competition, budding economics competition and a field trip for foreign participants.

The first SAESM was held in 2004 in New Delhi, the second in 2005 in Lahore, third in 2006 in Dhaka, fourth in 2007 in Colombo, fifth in 2008 in New Delhi and sixth in 2009 in Dhaka and hosted by coordinating institutions. The event is organised with financial sponsorship from governments, private sector institutions and donor agencies. The SAESM has been recognised as an important initiative to build capacities of economics graduates in South Asian universities. (GW)