SANEI is a regional initiative to foster networking among economic research institutes in South Asia. Initiated in June 1998, SANEI seeks to establish strong research interlinkages among diverse economic research institutes in the region, with a view to making policy more informed.

SANEI organises regional research competitions within the South Asian region annually, and funds select research projects. While attempting to foster high-quality research, SANEI lends special emphasis on capacity building and formation of a South Asia wide professional network of researchers engaged in policy oriented studies. Collaborative research has received a major thrust under the aegis of SANEI. This implies that in addition to stand alone research, SANEI funds projects which are jointly carried out by at least two research institutes based in two different countries in South Asia.

Studies carried out under the auspices of SANEI, are published. SANEI also conducts Annual Conferences as part of its effort to promote exchange of ideas on economic research in the region, as well as disseminate its research findings.