In many ways, 2009 was an eventful year for our Institute. In April, IIAS celebrated two special occasions. We gave the IIAS Newsletter a facelift and we launched the EC-funded Europe-Asia Policy Platform in Brussels. This platform, also referred to as ‘EUforAsia’, is an initiative of IIAS together with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (both based in Singapore), and the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) in Brussels.