Japanese Business and Human Rights Risks in Southeast Asia – Reports from Thailand and Indonesia

Recently, cases such as the Uyghur forced labor in China and the coup d'état in Myanmar have brought attention to Japanese business enterprises regarding their business and human rights response to such issues. Similar cases are believed to increase as ESG investment and Biden’s human rights diplomacy comes to the forefront. Japanese companies should be sufficiently prepared for such events in the future.

These cases have not suddenly emerged, having been reported from long before. They became visible recently, but it is too late to respond after it happens. Companies should take actions such as human rights due diligence and remedy through grievance mechanisms in the peacetime. To do so, they should grasp the human rights situation abroad and how they impact the company and the sector as a whole well in advance. 

SPF launched a new project entitled “Promoting Responsible Business Conduct” in October 2020, and began activities such as sharing relevant articles and supporting the establishment of grievance mechanisms in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders. As one of these activities, we commissioned research on human rights risks for Japanese business enterprises in Southeast Asia to experts and professional organizations on-site. In this panel conference, we will invite those experts and professional organizations, and share the results of the research. We hope that they will be useful for future measures.