The South Asian Economics Students’ Meet (SAESM) took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka from January 21-23 and proved to be a remarkable experience for Team Pakistan. Team Pakistan consisted of ten students (nine from LUMS and one from Lahore School of Economics (LSE)) and six instructors (four from LUMS and two from LSE). All the members of the team did a wonderful job representing the country on this prestigious international platform.
At SAESM, students from the team were allocated to various categories of the competition and each participant was required to present a research paper from one of the themes provided. Hiba Hassan, Sahil Nisar and Sanha Tahir skillfully won the best paper award in their respective themes and made Team Pakistan proud.
Baneen Abbas, Saad Hanif, Sahil Nisar and Wajeeha Zia Tung gave it their all in ‘Budding Economist’, a highly competitive category at SAESM, with Mr. Nisar going all the way to the final round of the competition.
Agha Fahad Abbas participated in the ‘Panel Discussion’ category of SAESM and effectively analysed the range of problems faced by South Asia while Kashaf Ali represented Pakistan in the ‘Seeds of Change’ category and presented an innovative idea to tackle poor air quality in South Asia.
The rest of the team also put up a wonderful fight, especially the Quiz Team, which got to the final round but lost to India after a nail biting contest. The Quiz Team comprised of Hiba Hassan (LSE), Jazib Parvez, Sajid Faiz Malik and Sanha Tahir.
Instructors Turab Hussain, Ali Hasanain, Adeel Tariq and Sanval Nasim from LUMS as well as Sadia Hussain and Mariyam Haroon from LSE represented Team Pakistan as judges.
Dr. Hasanain was one of the judges for the Seeds of Change competition at SAESM, while Dr. Hussain, one of the founding members of the SAESM venture, and the Head of the Economics Department at LUMS judged the Panel Discussion category. Moreover, Dr. Tariq, Ms. Hussain, Ms. Haroon and Dr. Nasim conducted the Quiz Competition with great diligence.
As country coordinator, Dr. Hasanain also conducted a very interesting panel discussion titled, ‘South Asia in Three Decades.’ It was a compelling discussion based on the World Bank Project, ‘Pakistan@100’ that Dr. Hasanain is currently working on.
The event not only provided great exposure to the students but also helped broaden their understanding of economics in real-world terms. By interacting with participants from other countries, our students realised the various intricacies involved in the economic structures of other countries. They also realised that diversity among the people in South Asia can be a source of great strength.
Team Pakistan made the country proud and has come back home with more determination to work harder and represent the country on many more global platforms.
