Students from Department of Economics Thrive at South Asia Economics Students Meet (SAESM) – 2020
Economics undergraduates have secured five (05) awards out of ten (10) research themes at the SAESM 2020 held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Out of five (05) winners four (04) are from Department of Economics, University of Colombo.
South Asia Economics Students Meet (SAESM) is an annual event for undergraduates studying Economics in Seven (07) South Asian Countries. Participating countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Main sponsor for the event is the World Bank. Around 70 students and more than 20 economists including eminent economists, World Bank representatives, country coordinators from representative counties participate in this annual event. The 16th SAESM was held in Kathmandu – Nepal from 21st January to 26th January, 2020. Prof Sirimal Abeyratne represents the SAESM as one of the five governing council members, while Dr Shanuka Senarath is the Sri Lankan country coordinator.
While competing strong Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi teams Sri Lankan team comprising nine (09) students from University of Colombo and one (01) student from University of Sri Jayawardenapura managed to secure five (05) medals out of ten (10) conference themes. Added to these victories, one of our students (Kanishka Werawella – University of Colombo) won the prestigious Amartya Sen Best Research Paper Award. This is the second instance where a Sri Lankan participant won this medal since 2017. All together this is the best performance ever recorded by a Sri Lankan team over the last 16 years.
Mahbub Ul Haq & Amartya Sen Best Research Paper Award – Kanishka Werawella (University of Colombo)
Quiz Competition Runners Up – Oshani Pallege (University of Colombo) and the team.
Wining themes and Student names are as follows:
| Theme No. | Research Theme | Name of the Student | University |
| Theme 03 | Migration and Development | Kanchana Geeth Samaraweera | University of Colombo |
| Theme 05 | Human Capital Development | Janith Kaluarachchi | University of Colombo |
| Theme 07 | Mainstreaming Gender | Pasan Wijayawardhana | University of Sri Jayawardenapura |
| Theme 08 | Social Values and Institutions | Nilupulee Rathnayake | University of Colombo |
| Theme 10 | Actions for Climate Change | Kanishka Werawella | University of Colombo |
Other participants are; Thisali de Silva (University of Colombo), Ashen Hirantha Rajakulathilaka (University of Colombo), Isuru Dhananjaya Mendis (University of Colombo), Kavindya Thisarani Jayasundera (University of Colombo).
