The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) will begin today in Kathmandu. The theme of 3-day summit is "Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia". <br/><br/>The summit is being organised by National Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce of Nepal and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal. <br/><br/>Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission of Nepal Dr. Swarnim Wagle told media persons that thrust of the summit will be on development of South Asia. <br/><br/>He said, 200 participants including ministers, members of parliament, former MPs, ambassadors, government officials, researchers, eminent experts and thinkers will attend the summit.<br/><br/>South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) was started in 2008. It is a regional platform for discussing and analyzing economic and development issues and challenges faced by South Asian countries and advancing the cause of regional integration and cooperation. <br/><br/>Envisaged as a Davos-like event in South Asia, the SAES brings together stakeholders from the government, private sector, research/academic community and civil society to generate innovative and actionable ideas for consideration by the region's policymakers and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). <br/><br/>The whole process is led by a group of five eminent think tanks that take turns to organize the annual event in one of the SAARC countries. <br/><br/>The think tanks are Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh; Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal; Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan and Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), Sri Lanka.