In July 2007, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy joined the prestigious Global Public Policy Conference Network (GPPN), becoming the first institution outside Europe and North America to join this alliance that includes Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).

The establishment of double degrees with SIPA, LSE and Sciences Po marks the formal admission of the school into the Global Public Policy Network (GPPN). The GPPN was established in June 2005 by SIPA, LSE and Sciences Po, as a close-knit alliance of premiere educational institutions dedicated to the common study of issues of global public policy concern.

In addition, the School was chosen to host the second GPPN Conference in Singapore on October 22nd – 23rd 2007. The first GPPN Conference was held in Paris in October 2006. The Singapore conference brought together leading academics and practitioners from more than 40 public policy institutions from around the world. Titled ‘Globalizing Asia or Asian Globalization?’, the conference attracted eminent speakers and panellists including Surin Pitsuwan (ASEAN Secretary General-Designate and former Foreign Minister of Thailand), Andrew Sheng (Chief Advisor to the China Banking Regulatory Commission and former Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority) and Visit Tantisunthorn (Secretary General of the Government Pension Fund in Thailand).

Beyond the double or dual degrees described in a previous section, the GPPN partners have agreed to collaborate across a range of initiatives, including the launch of shorter executive programmes targeted at global policymakers, the launch of one or more practitioner and academic journals, and the conduct or sponsorship of joint research on issues of global policy concern. One such example is the Executive Public Policy Training Programme (EPPTP) held in collaboration with Peking University (PKU) and aimed at high-ranking civil servants from the People’s Republic of China. The programme is in its second year and is currently designed and delivered by faculty from PKU, SIPA, LSE and Sciences Po. School faculty are expected to join subsequent programmes from 2008 onwards.