Effective trade, climate and development policy making and implementation depend significantly on a priori assessments of the implications that could arise from different policy options. It is thus important for researchers and policy makers to conduct ex ante analyses of alternative policy scenarios, for example, the potential implications of a particular policy measure such as tariff reduction for the macroeconomic environment, exports, imports, employment, poverty, food security, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental sustainability. The growing importance of, and hence demand for, ex ante policy analysis also arises from the negotiations for further trade liberalization at multilateral, regional and bilateral levels, climate change measures and food security options. CGE models have emerged as a potent tool to carry out ex ante analysis and are being increasingly used in trade, climate and development policy analysis.
However, there is a dearth of human resource having expertise in the application of CGE modeling in most developing and least-developed countries, including in South Asia. Hence, with the objective of building the capacity of researchers in South Asia by providing them basic knowledge of CGE modelling and the use of GAMS software so that they would be able to contribute to informed trade, climate and development policy making and implementation in the region, SAWTEE and South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM) launched the CGE modelling training programme for South Asian researchers in 2008 and have organized four trainings programmes so far: the first in July 2008, the second in April 2009 and the third in August 2010. The fourth training programme, was organized on 20–23 September 2011 in Kathmandu.
More than 50 researchers from universities, research organizations, government and non-government organizations, central banks, and donor agencies in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have participated in these training programmes so far. Encouragingly, some of the training participants are now engaged in research using CGE modelling.
