South Asian economy has been experiencing job-less growth for past few decades. It is high time now for the policymakers of this region to concentrate on effective resource mobilisation for employment generation to make this economic growth sustainable. Experts and policymakers made such observations at the second plenary session on the first day of the event titled “Sustainable Transformation of South Asian Economy by 2030: What are the Possible Pathways?” of the Ninth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IX) which was organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Hotel Le Méridien Dhaka, Bangladesh 15 October 2016.
Mr A H M Mustafa Kamal, FCA, MP, Minister for Planning, Government of Bangladesh was present as Guest of Honour. Emeritus Professor Deepak Nayyar, Chair, South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), India was the Keynote Speaker of the session.; Dr Najma Afzal Khan, Member of Parliament in Punjab Assembly, Pakistan; Dr Swarnim Wagle, Member, National Planning Commission, Nepal; Dr Dushni Weerakoon, Deputy Director, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), Sri Lanka; Dr Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Bangladesh; and Ambassador Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, BB, Former Foreign Secretary, Bangladesh spoke as Panellists at the session. The session was moderated by Dr Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, IPS.
The two-day Summit, held during 15-16 October 2016, was co-organised by the IPS; Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan.