Training on CGE Modeling for South Asian Researchers

Without Recognizing the growing importance and use of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling in trade policy analysis, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE) and South Asian Network of Economic Modelers (SANEM) organized a training on CGE modeling for South Asian researchers from 14-18 July 2008 in Kathmandu.

A total of 31 researchers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka representing universities, research organizations, non-governmental organizations and central banks, among others, enthusiastically participated in the five-day training. The resource persons were two leading CGE modelers in South Asia--Dr. Selim Raihan, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Executive Director, SANEM; and Dr. Bazlul Haque Khondker, Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Chairman, SANEM.

Prior to the core part of the training, participants were given an overview of the state of play of trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels in a presentation by Mr. Ratnakar Adhikari, President, SAWTEE. This was followed by a presentation on Nepal's experience in economic modeling and its use in policy making by Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal, Chairman, Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRAD), Kathmandu.

The training dealt with the theoretical underpinnings of CGE modeling as well as applications, involving practical exercises. This training was intended for young researchers in South Asia who want to do ex-ante policy analysis with real data and are also interested in using numerical modeling for simulation analysis of theoretical models. Participants were taught how to build a social accounting matrix (SAM)--essentially the dataset for CGE models--and its use in trade policy analysis. With that foundation, they were then taught the basics of programming a CGE model in GAMS software. Finally, the participants were instructed in CGE modeling at the global level using the RunGTAP software developed under the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP).

In order to help the participants build on what they learnt in the training, SAWTEE and SANEM called for research proposals involving CGE modeling. The training was highly appreciated by the participants, who said they would be applying in their researches the tools they had learnt.