The Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies (IRSEA) welcomes Dr. Yeo Lay Hwee as our newest Honorary Member. Committed to a more robust interaction between Europe and Asia, IRSEA is honoured to work together with Distinguished Statesmen, Academics and Diplomats in the spirit of Mutual Respect, Understanding and Dialogue.
One of Singapore's most distinguished voices in ASEAN-EU Studies, Dr Yeo Lay Hwee, is Director of the European Union Centre in Singapore, and teaches part time at both the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU). She is Council Secretary / Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Adjunct Research Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Senior Associate at the Centre for Liberal Arts & Social Sciences (CLASS), Nanyang Technological University.
An international relations expert, she participates actively both in policy dialogue, research and in academic workshops and conferences. Her research interests revolve around comparative regionalism; ASEAN and EU; and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process.
Some of her book publications include Asia and Europe: The Development and Different Dimensions of ASEM (Routledge, 2003), The Eurasian Space: Far More Than Two Continents (ISEAS: 2004), Elections in Asia: Making Democracy Work? (Marshall Cavendish: 2006); Changing Tides and Changing Ties: Anchoring Asia-Europe Relations in Challenging Times (EU Centre, 2012); ASEAN and EU: The Untold Story (World Scientific Publishing, 2020). She also contributes regularly to academic book projects, policy journals and media commentaries on the role of the European Union in Asia and on EU-ASEAN relations.
For her exemplary record in research and policy work in regionalism and Asia-Europe/ ASEAN-EU relations, she was awarded the Nakasone Yasuhiro Award in June 2007. She was also awarded the ASEF Diversity Creates Award in 2017 for her contributions toward promoting dialogue between Asia and Europe. Dr. Hwee had also been awarded various short term visiting fellowships and scholarships taking her to Brussels, Leiden and Aalborg.
Throughout her activity as an International Affairs expert and academic, Dr. Yeo Lay Hwee has built multiple academic bridges between Europe and Asia, in the same spirit so strongly advocated by IRSEA. On the occasion of joining the Institute as an Honorary Member, Dr. Hweedeclared herself honoured by the award.
IRSEA’s President and Founder, H.E. Ambassador (p) Gheorghe Savuica, praisedDr. Hwee’s outstanding and fruitful career as well as the continuous, active and analytical interest towards Asia-Europe cooperation and facilitation, adding that the Institute looks forward to further cooperating with Dr. Hwee in her capacity as Director of European Union Centre in Singapore and Council Secretary of the Singapore Institute of International Studies.