The IIID believes in establishing tie-ups with similar institutes on a national and international level, to encourage communication and co-operation between designers, affiliated professionals, artists, manufacturers and traders. NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS On the national level, the IIID has collaborated with The Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), Practicing Engineers & Architects Association (PEATA), Indian Society of Lighting Engineers (ISLE) and Institute of HVAC Consultants (ISHARE). IIID also liaises closely with the Council of Architecture (COA) in New Delhi. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS On the international level, the IIID is a member APSDA – Asia Pacific Space designers Association; and an associate of the JDF – Japan Design Foundation. APSDA The Asia Pacific Space Designer’s Association (APSDA) was founded by the Chinese Society of Interior Designers (CSID), the Japanese Society of Commercial Designers (JCD) and Korean Society of Interior Designers (KOSID) in 1989 in Taipei, Taiwan. Since then its membership has grown to include many designer bodies in south-east Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and even Australia and New Zealand. The objectives of APSDA are: to socialize and better understand and different cultures of its members; to exchange information and knowledge through networking; and to work to achieve better solutions for the design community. The IIID formed an alliance with the APSDA to further its own goal of interacting with international designers; this one being specifically a gathering of designers from the Asia Pacific region. The feather in the cap of the IIID is that the current President Ar. Bankim Dave was unanimously elected the Chairman of APSDA for the term 2010-2012!! And he had the rare opportunity to chair the general assembly of APSDA in Beijing, China in 2009. In February 2012 in Goa, the APSDA Convention will be hosted – for the very first time in India. JDF The Japan Design Foundation (JDF) is committed to International Design Business Promotion Projects with the aim of promoting design-related activities and industries, fostering public awareness of design values, presenting future visions through design works, and accelerating international understanding and cultural development through global exchange programmes. Major Projects include: International Design Competitions and Business Matching at Workshops; Corporate Design Strategy Forum; International Design Management Study Group; and Region-to-Region Initiatives for Industrial Development. JDF organises the International Design Competition, Osaka. It also set up the Asia Pacific Design Network.