2012 South Asia Economic Students' Meet

Good evening and Namaskar!

To the esteemed faculty members, country coordinators, volunteers, students, and the entire SAESM family, I want to thank you on behalf of the World Bank and from the bottom of my heart for sharing this very special event in this Himalayan paradise.

My gratitude to the visionaries in this hall who dreamed of bringing the region closer together through this innovative initiative. Your vision and foresight have turned a dream into reality and and it is clear that the passion you had almost a decade ago is as strong as ever.

My sincere thanks to Dr. Pyalkural and Dr. Adhikari and the entire team for all your hard work and preparation. Your efforts have paid off handsomely as everything has been absolutely seamless.

On a personal level, I will never forget listening to the innovative ideas, immense hospitality, rekindling of old friendships and the building of new ones.

I also wanted to share some personal thoughts with you all. I think Gandhi stated it most eloquently when he said, be the change that you want to see. Each and every one of us have such a potential to make a difference.

In terms of your future career choices: my advice is to choose a path that is a sound combination between what your naturally talented at, what you're passionate about, as well as the practical considerations, as over the long run, it is tough to be the best at something you dislike.

Learn from every person that you meet, take time to reflect, cherish every opportunity that you have and always be thankful, as we are all here partly due to loving support of our families, friends, professors, and mentors that help us unlock our potential and realize our aspirations.

If you believe you can accomplish something and work towards it, you will likely achieve it.

One of my favorite philosophies is the idea that there's no script in life, we write is as we go along. What do you want your script to be?

As we go forward, I'd be honored to keep in touch with all of you, answer any questions, and assist in any way in your future endeavors.

Thank you!