With the global economy advancing at its current pace and severe environmental problems surfacing as a direct result, citizens--specially university students--need to realise that governments and corporations need not be at loggerheads with one another but instead could work together to create a symphony of social welfare. This wedding of public and private interests is vital to the prosperity of the citizens of the country. However, this melody can only arise within the framework of proper government legislation and policy.
One can argue that it is a university's moral obligation to expose their students to real-world scenarios to prepare them for 'real life'. With the classroom focusing on theory, the extracurricular clubs within Bangladesh's university campuses have risen to expose the student population to a plethora of multifaceted real-life scenarios that aim to test the mettle of all the knowledge acquired in the classroom. With each club focusing on building simulated competitions, these events provide an excellent avenue for the university student to familiarise themselves with the problems plaguing the world today. EconProdigy is one such competition.
About EconProdigy 2018
EconProdigy, organised by the Young Economists' Forum (YEF) of North South University, is an inter-university policy making competition. The event started its journey in 2015 and on December 09, 2018 completed its fourth iteration. EconProdig, a team-based competition, is best described as a macroscopic problem-solving competition. Unlike other competitions, EconProdigy is the only event that puts students in the shoes of the government and gives them the behemoth task of evaluating policies, carrying out gruelling cost-benefit analyses, engaging in heated debates and finally solving major social issues through innovative policy-making. EconProdigy 4.0 was the fourth instalment of this exciting and one-of-a-kind event. Owing to the growing partnership between the public and private sectors of the economy, this year's overarching theme was Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
This year's title sponsor was IPDC Finance Limited, while Agora powered the event. Creatik Marketing and Communications, United Group, and Mahmud Group were associate sponsors, along with other partners for the competition.
Workshops and seminars
Before the event kicked off, Young Economists' Forum sent out teams of its members to various universities to conduct roadshows and seminars to encourage participation in this exciting event. These seminars were held at universities such as Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Faculty of Business Studies-University of Dhaka, Institute of Business Administration (IBA)-University of Dhaka, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), East West University (EWU), and of course, North South University (NSU) itself. These workshops and seminars were designed to familiarise students with the content, theme and structure of EconProdigy 4.0. Prospective participants were informed of the prizes awaiting the finalists and winners of the competition during these workshops. These workshops were designed to be interactive and, at the same time, present the field of economics in a fun and approachable manner. Over 100 teams from across the country registered for EconProdigy 4.0, the largest in its history.
Rounds of the competition and grand finale
The case for round one was given out on November 16. The task involved analysing the RMG sector and identifying the most likely Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandates the government might impose on firms in the industry. Teams were then asked to provide their opinion on these mandates-whether they supported it or not. This thesis had to be backed up by a detailed cost-benefit analysis and presented in a concise abstract. Of all the teams that registered, all 73 abstracts were selected for phase B of round 1, the presentation round. Teams then had to present the contents of their abstracts in detail to a panel of judges in a gruelling interactive session where participants' knowledge was thoroughly tested. Only 20 teams were selected from this round. The second round of EconProdigy 4.0 was the infamous Cross Talk-a heated debate round. Phase A featured ten debates, all of which were related to the topic CSR. Participants were given one week to prepare for their respective debates. The winners of Phase A were then pitted against one another in an instant-debate round. Five intense debates were held in Phase B and from this stage emerged the five finalists of EconProdigy 4.0-Team Upwreck, Team Consensus, Team Policy Police, Team Econmode and Team BadBats.
The grand finale was held on December 09 in North South University. Finalists were presented with a unique case: teams had to choose between either the steel or pharmaceutical industries and recommend CSR directives to accomplish a specific social goal of their choosing using said directives. All finalists delivered passionate presentations with high content. After five intense question-and-answer sessions, all finalists were done with their journey. This was followed by speeches from the chief guest, Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the FBCCI, special guest Mominul Islam, CEO and managing director of IPDC Finance Limited and session chair Pro-Vice-chancellor Designate of North South University Professor G U Ahsan. After a small pause, the winners of EconProdigy 4.0 were finally announced.
Words from the winners and organisers
Team Upwreck of IBA were crowned champions with Team Consensus of IBA and Team Policy Police of NSU became first and second runners-up respectively. Team Upwreck of IBA said, "We learned to truly understand what the costs of doing business are, and how CSR practices and sustainability can play a big role in a company's business model, and how its benefits are more far-reaching than we think."
This is what Sartaz Zahir, president of Young Economists' Forum, said about the event: "The aim of EconProdigy has always been to engage the student body in intense policy dialogue and analyses. The research and cognitive logistics that go into each round are designed to provide holistic insight on various economic issues to the participants."
The writer is a student of North South University. He can be reached at [email protected]
