The South Asia Economic Conclave was organized by the joint effort of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the World Bank Group, national chambers of commerce of member countries, and similar associations to foster shared growth and prosperity through regional economic integration. The three day long regional conclave was held in New Delhi from September 28-30, 2015. The forum brought together leading policymakers, experts, private sector leaders, women entrepreneurs, media leaders and youth activists to deliberate on the scopes, opportunities and roadblocks to greater cooperation in South Asia.

The purpose of this forum is to stimulate informed dialogue between state and non-state stakeholders to promote greater economic cooperation i.e. regional trade and investment, which would in turn help catalyze higher growth and new job opportunities for all countries in South Asia.
Some specific objectives were to:

• Work towards regional economic integration via trade and investment,
• Build a shared ecosystem to foster greater people-to-people contact; and
• Support a structured Public-Private Dialogue.

Some of the key sessions of this forum were “The Power of 1.6 billion: A Blueprint for Prosperity, Doing Business in South Asia; Powering South Asia: Connecting Grids; Expanding Intraregional Trade: Drawing Lessons from ASEAN and NAFTA, Expanding South Asia’s Services Trade and Role of Media in Economic Integration.”

Mr. Syed Munir Khasru, Chairman, IPAG was invited as one of the panelists to share his thoughts at ‘Writing a New Chapter Through People-to-People Contacts’ session.