The Republic’s oldest think-tank, the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), has moved up a notch to top a list of 40 think-tanks in Asia and the Pacific in a global survey.

The 2013 Global Go To Think Tank Rankings was released last week at the United Nations University and the World Bank in Washington by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program.

In the Asia and the Pacific category, which excludes China, India, Japan and South Korea, the SIIA surpassed Australia’s Lowy Institute that was ranked first in 2012, but fell to third place last year. The Centre for Strategic Studies in New Zealand was ranked second.

In the same category, Singapore’s East Asian Institute was fifth, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies was 11th, the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies was 16th and the Political Risks Assessment Group was 29th.