Annual Report for the Year 2013
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ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2013 ABOUT SIIA Founded in 1962 and registered as a membership-based We felt it was important to establish a society, we are Singapore’s oldest think tank SIIA is a non- society in Singapore in which all those profit, non-government institution which focuses on a broad range of subjects and programmes, including regionalism, who were interested in the world could geo-politics and economic development, as well as the get together, be well informed, and environment and resources. discuss the big issues of the day," SIIA is an independent organization, funded by foundations, membership subscriptions and corporate sponsorship. We receive no regular funding from the Singapore government. - SIIA Honorary Member Prof. Tommy We welcome opportunities to work with any organization Koh, Singapore's Ambassador-at- committed to making Singapore a better-informed, more cosmopolitan society that understands the region and Large and Secretary on the Institute's contributes actively to its development. first Council - 1962 Over 50 years of independent research and 60A Orchard Road#04-03 Tower 1 practical ideas for regional prosperity. The Atrium @ Orchard International Involvement Hub Singapore 238890 Tel: (65) 6734 9600 Fax: (65) 6733 6217 Visit us at www.siiaonline.org UEN: S62SS0073L SIIA is the #1 think tank in Asia and Pacific in IPC No: T03CC1685G 2014 and in 2013 was #1 in ASEAN in the Auditors: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP annual global survey by the University of Public Accountants and Certified Public Accountants Pennsylvania. Bankers: DBS Bank Ltd The Institute has complied with all the applicable guidelines of the Code of Governance Evaluation Checklist for Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs). The full checklist is available at www.charities.gov.sg. About The SIIA | The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) is ranked as one of the world's leading think tanks and number one in Southeast Asia. The SIIA is dedicated to the research, analysis and discussion of regional and international issues. Our research and events reach out to policy-makers, business leaders, professionals and youth. Visit us at www.siiaonline.org Page 2 of 39 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SIIA CHAIRMAN’S REVIEW 4 2. HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 2013 7 3. LOOKING AHEAD 17 4. LEADING THE WAY 20 5. OUR TEAM / SIIA SECRETARIAT & STAFFING 21 6. APPENDICES 23 About The SIIA | The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) is ranked as one of the world's leading think tanks and number one in Southeast Asia. The SIIA is dedicated to the research, analysis and discussion of regional and international issues. Our research and events reach out to policy-makers, business leaders, professionals and youth. Visit us at www.siiaonline.org Page 3 of 39 1. SIIA CHAIRMAN’S REVIEW The Singapore Institute of International Affairs celebrated our 50th year in 2013, a significant milestone for a civic institution, especially given the relative youth of our country. This has been an auspicious, rewarding and also challenging year for us. Details of our work in the past year are set out in following pages of this Annual Report. Allow me as SIIA chairman to simply highlight a few matters briefly – both things achieved and upcoming challenges. Policy Research and Programs The SIIA is growing the impact of our policy research and the quality of our programs and events. A global survey released in early 2013 ranked the SIIA as the No. 1 think tank in ASEAN. In early 2014, the same global survey confirmed our top ranking, not only in ASEAN but also counterparts in Australia-New Zealand and India. Over the last years, we have consistently been well ranked but these are our highest rankings to date. In areas of policy research, we have continued our focus on ASEAN (which includes ties with the rest of Asia and the Pacific, especially the USA), and added two additional programs. For ASEAN, we were honored to help Brunei as the 2013 chairman and, for the current year, to advise Myanmar. The SIIA’s flagship ASEAN and Asia Forum continued to grow into its 7th year to be relevant to businesses based in Singapore that work in the region. Looking ahead, while there are many political and security issues facing ASEAN, the SIIA is focusing in particular on ASEAN Economic Community 2015, to understand the key countries and institutional pillars for the group. Our second key program is Environment and Resources, with a focus on sustainability issues. This develops our many years of work on the haze pollution, climate change and clean city air. In 2013, after haze pollution hit a record high of 400PSI, we convened a panel that brought together key actors in the palm oil sector: producers, major buyers and sellers, and financiers. In Nov 2013, we hosted leading NGOs and experts from the region to analyze what went wrong and what needs to be done. For 2014, we are initiating the first Singapore dialogue on Sustainable World Resources, to try to address haze problem in the broader context of the sustainability of this important economic sector. Our third key program is the “F50”, which looks at the 50-year future for Singapore in Asia and the World. This was launched towards end 2013 with guests of honor from the government –Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yaacob at our first soft launch panel, and Education Minister Heng Swee Keat at our first official workshop. F50 however remains an independent effort, directed by SIIA Executive Director Nicholas Fang and Senior Fellow Parag Khanna, that we hope will stir many more to think of our country in a longer time frame and broad context as we go forward this year. In addition to these three key policy research programs, the SIIA remains active in convening events and discussions that relate to other areas of international affairs and that promote Global Citizenship among Singaporeans and residents. In total, the SIIA convened 33 events over 2013, averaging one event in two weeks or so, for our different types and tiers of membership. Our Impact: Working as Networked Think Tank Even as the SIIA’s grows our programs, we recognize there are other think tanks that do many more events and publications. As chairman, I therefore believe that it is the impact of what we do that is key. To that end, the SIIA positions itself as a networked think tank. About The SIIA | The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) is ranked as one of the world's leading think tanks and number one in Southeast Asia. The SIIA is dedicated to the research, analysis and discussion of regional and international issues. Our research and events reach out to policy-makers, business leaders, professionals and youth. Visit us at www.siiaonline.org Page 4 of 39 This approach expands beyond our in-house researchers to bring different expertise to different issues appropriately, whether as Associate Fellows or working in collaboration with experts from other countries. Across the different program areas, we consciously and actively reach out to different stakeholders such as policy-makers and politicians (both in Singapore and abroad), the corporations with businesses overseas, the nascent non-governmental organizations in Singapore and the regional and international media. Working through the media has been a key effort. Throughout 2013, SIIA continued to be quoted across international and regional media, and contributed commentaries that ran in the newspapers of the region, including TODAY, the South China Morning Post, the Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post and China Daily. Of particular note were comments that the SIIA made in October 2013, after US President Barack Obama cancelled his visit to the region: the SIIA was quoted in almost 1000 media outlets, from the Washington Post to newspapers across the USA like the Alaska Daily and Marietta Times. Resources and Our Membership Having discussed our priorities in policy research and how we try to work for increased impact, allow me to discuss issues concerning our membership and resources. In terms of our finances, I am pleased to report that our accounts are healthy, with revenues for 2013 at some $1.4 million -- being the highest for the last years. This generated a modest surplus in excess of $30,000. This in in tandem not only with the growth in our policy research programs and events, but also with a modest up tick in the number of staff in the SIIA secretariat from 9 to 12pax in 2013. This is notwithstanding our effort to recruit and retain staff with salary and bonuses that are in line with comparable organizations and the market. When we consider our current ranking, we should feel both honored and also humbled. The SIIA remains a small institution with modest resources in funding and staff and many people have helped us over the years. Of these, allow me to mention especially those who have given their time as our advisors and Council members; our Honorary Members, Mr SR Nathan the 6th President of the Republic and Ambassador-at- Large Tommy Koh; and our patrons -- the Lee Foundation and Mr Alan Chan of Petroships. There are also corporate and individual members who have been loyal and supportive. Several of you make voluntary donations to the SIIA, on top of their annual dues, and some are generous sponsors. At our 50th anniversary dinner, the SIIA was proud to recognize three special members who contributed much time and effort – Messrs Chandra Das, Lau Teik Soon and Philip Ng. They are our first Life Members. I hope that others may also be inspired to participate actively and contribute generously of their time, ideas and – where they can –funding for the efforts of the SIIA to grow further.