Conference on Public Policy and Governance in South Asia commences

July 4, Kathmandu: A conference on public policy and governance in South Asia has kicked off today with the objective of sharing experience related to the public policies and governance systems adopted by the countries in the region.

The two-day 3rd Conference on Public Policy and Governance in South Asia with the theme “Expanding Public Choices and Market Opportunities” is organized by Nepal Administrative Staff College. Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Lal Babu Pandit, inaugurating the conference, said the three countries in South Asia – Nepal, India and Bangladesh – were facing similar kinds of problems.

Stating that the brain drain has emerged as a growing challenge, General Administration Minister called for improving the standard of the educational institutions so as to meet the country’s need for skilled human resources. According to him, on the one hand, presently the country was in need of skilled human resources for development and prosperity while on the other hand, it was grappling with the problem of educated unemployed.

“The country’s problems are not addressed if there is a lack of balance between educated human resources and the country’s needs,” he warned. Minister Pandit went on to say that similar types of problems were seen in South Asia in terms of public policy and governance system while expressing the belief that the sharing of experience among the participants of the conference would help find out the solution to the problems. More than 50 people including scholars, policy actors and political leaders from South Asia, including Nepal, India, and Bangladesh are participating in the conference.

Discussions would be held in the conference on public policy and governance system, sustainable development goals and investment policy, among related topics. Among the objectives of the conference are: Support to promote a culture of evidence-based policy-making and identifying issues and opportunities in public policy process in the region, and strengthening the synergy and networking of institutions working in public policy and governance.