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While good economic research does not guarantee good policies, all stakeholders benefit from understanding what has worked in practice and by applying new ideas to tackle unique challenges as they arise.
There is a virtuous circle that can develop as researchers need to know the difficulties policymakers and business face in the real world and, likewise, policies and practices can benefit from research based on statistical rigor and sound economic principles. So bringing together top researchers, policymakers, and regional stakeholders in one place can be a huge step in moving the region toward better economic cooperation and performance to tackle development challenges and weather even the toughest economic storms.
The SAES is a prime forum to take advantage of the many unexploited opportunities for regional cooperation, particularly now as regional trading opportunities are expanding and policymakers face questions about how to maintain growth under global economic volatility.
Similar institutions have developed in other regions and have been an excellent forum to share ideas about the latest state of knowledge on growth, poverty reduction, trade, and general economic policies. The Latin America and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA), for example, began in 1992 with a small group of 40 researchers with a focus on providing solutions to Latin America’s many economic challenges and has now blossomed into a global network of over 1000 members to share their latest findings on development issues pertinent to the region.
In addition to the annual meetings, a key success the LACEA has been creating an environment to stimulate research and expand the base of knowledge, through various prizes for outstanding research, an online resource and data centre for economists, and a policy journal, Economia, in which new theories, techniques, and empirical findings are applied to policy-relevant questions, and not simply presented for their own sake.
Likewise, SAES is building a regional community and is now on the verge of taking-off to become a generator of new ideas to support the challenging development agenda ahead. This year’s focus of the sixth SAES is on how the South Asian economies may achieve sustained and inclusive growth and usher in an era of greater prosperity for its people.
The World Bank is tremendously excited to support the SAES. As economists, we often take a narrow view on development and get focused on the production and trade of more goods and services. And it is true that stronger output and greater integration are associated with higher consumption and lower poverty. But ideas, more than goods, are the true driver of economic progress and mutual understanding. As a venue to exchange and debate ideas from across the region and beyond, the SAES can make a major contribution to development and cooperation in South Asia.
(The writer is The World Bank Group’s Chief Economist
for South Asia.)
