Representatives of the Singapore-based ISEAS (Yusof Ishak Institute) visited SETA Istanbul on Friday, 29 November. The visit aimed to explore possible academic collaborations between the two think tanks and to exchange views on their respective research agendas. The delegation, received by the SETA Academy Directorate, included ISEAS Executive Director Choi Shing Kwok and William Choong, a senior researcher at the institute and managing editor of Fulcrum, its digital analytical platform.
Established in 1968 as an autonomous research institution by an act of the Singapore Parliament and renamed in 2015 in honor of Singapore’s first President, Yusof Ishak, ISEAS has since been publishing regional and global analyses and reports examining the socio-political, economic, and security dimensions of Southeast Asia.
ISEAS conducts its research through three core programs: (1) Strategy and Policy, (2) Economics, and (3) Society and Culture. The institute also hosts three research centers: the ASEAN Studies Centre, the Singapore APEC Study Centre, and the History Research Centre.
The Singapore APEC Study Centre stands out as a structure that contributes to the country’s foreign policy analysis and aims to strengthen institutional engagement with other APEC-related centers.
In the field of academic publishing, the institute produces the journal Contemporary Southeast Asia and the annual volume Southeast Asian Affairs, which has been published since 1974. In addition, it publishes the Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, launched in 1984, focusing on the region’s economic trends.
During the meeting held at SETA Foundation’s Istanbul office, the two institutions engaged in extensive evaluations of their respective research interests. Particular attention was given to topics such as Türkiye’s Asia outreach, the shifting geopolitical dynamics of Southeast Asia, and evolving parameters of the global political economy.
The visit laid a positive foundation for future joint events and projects between the two think tanks. Concluding the meeting, SETA and ISEAS reaffirmed their mutual commitment to strengthening academic knowledge production and enhancing intellectual engagement between Türkiye and Southeast Asia.
