Japanese staff from international organizations and international NGOs, JETRO/IRI, Global Compact Network Japan (GCNJ), JP-MIRAI, and others collaborated to organize various side events in conjunction with the “Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum (Asia Pacific) 2025” held in Bangkok from September 15 to 19. In conjunction with the “Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum (Asia Pacific Region) 2025” held in Bangkok from September 15 to 19, various side events were organized to promote understanding and practice of business and human rights while responding to the interests of participants from Japanese companies.

As one of these activities, the International Organization for Migration (UN-IOM) Thailand office, Isala Institute, and JP-MIRAI jointly conducted a “field assembly study tour” to learn about migrant workers and suppliers in the overseas supply chain.

In the morning, the participants heard firsthand accounts of human rights violations and work-related accidents and the struggles to resolve them from staff of HRDF, a migrant worker and support NGO from Myanmar, in the conference room of the UN-IOM, and in the afternoon, they visited a Thai supplier of a strategic partner company with which Isala Institute has a partnership, a factory that processes seafood mainly for Western countries (83% of the employees are Myanmarese). In the afternoon, the participants observed a factory (83% of employees are Myanmarese) where Thai and Myanmarese people work together and work to enhance benefits together, and where the company is constantly attracting and retaining good employees, and where the company is also seeing the benefits.

Eighteen participants from Japanese companies, auditing firms, and civil society organizations said, “I learned a lot from the contrast between the first half and the second half. I could understand the migrant labor situation in Thailand. I would like to have another person in charge at the head office participate next year. We received a high degree of satisfaction and a lot of feedback from the participants. Please read the “Participants’ Comments” in the latter half of this article.

We plan to continue to work with related organizations to create opportunities to connect Japanese companies with stakeholders in overseas supply chains to deepen mutual understanding and cooperation.

Participant’s Voice

Q1: What are your overall impressions of the September 15 Bangkok on-site study tour?

Ms. Misa Nakamura, Sustainability Management Division, Suntory Holdings Limited]
The study tour was a valuable experience that could only be had by participating locally, including dialogue with actual migrant workers and visits to suppliers. The study tour was a meaningful opportunity for us to gain many hints and insights for our own initiatives through networking with the participants, and we are very grateful to the three co-sponsoring organizations and all the people involved.

Mr. Kosuke Sunamichi, Sojo Company, Ltd.
The forum itself was more meaningful because it was held prior to the forum and I was able to participate with a hypothesis based on the on-site experience I gained from the study tour. As it was the first time for me to participate in the forum, I was grateful for everyone’s kind support, including the briefing in advance, which made me feel at ease about participating in the forum.

Q2: Migrant workers and support in the first half How was your discussion with NGOs?

Mr. Nakamura, Suntory HD]
I felt that by listening to the IOM’s report on the labor situation in Thailand and the stories of foreign workers who have actually immigrated to Thailand, based also on the NGO support situation, the points and significance that companies should address would become clearer. It is difficult to achieve dialogue with workers at suppliers even in your own supply chain, but by directly listening to the voices of migrant workers, even those from different industries, such as “I want them to be treated with the same respect as Thai workers” and “I want Japanese companies to visit and encourage them to provide better welfare benefits,” I felt that the importance of dialogue and understanding of the current situation became even clearer. I hope that Japanese companies will visit and offer better benefits to the migrant workers.

Sojo Company, Mr. Sunamichi]
It was valuable to hear face-to-face examples of NGO involvement in relief, which was valuable as first-hand information. The NGO that spoke at the seminar focuses on relief for migrants, and showed us how they are responding to issues that have a high impact on rights holders in a step-by-step manner, despite the unstable social situation in the neighboring country, which is connected to the land. Migrant workers also gave us specific details on how they entered the country and what happened to them after working there, which we felt helped us to deepen our understanding of the actual situation.

Q3: How was your visit to local suppliers in the latter half of the year?

Mr. Nakamura, Suntory HD]
I felt that the daily efforts between Isala Laboratories and suppliers took shape in various areas during the supplier site visits, resulting in improved employee satisfaction. In assessing risks in the supply chain, it is sometimes necessary to conduct evaluations based only on questionnaires, etc., but it is also necessary to identify problems and consider preventive and corrective measures through actual site visits and dialogue with workers. I thought that it would be effective to promote human rights DD in collaboration with experts, rather than leaving it solely up to suppliers. I would like to consider this as a way to strengthen engagement.

Sojo Company, Mr. Sunamichi]
I am grateful for the opportunity to have a direct dialogue with suppliers and to see their production lines. I was impressed that the companies we visited were generally progressive in terms of their policies, systems, and initiatives, and that they also talked about employee engagement and other related topics. We believe that the dialogue in these forums will lead to better implementation of human rights DDs.

Q4: This year’s RBHR Forum as a whole and (9/15) Please share your thoughts on what you learned from this year’s RBHR Forum in general and from related events (other than this study tour) in particular.

Mr. Nakamura, Suntory HD]
I would like to refer to the way of proceeding while emphasizing dialogue, such as the practical session (case study research) at the JETRO Institute of Developing Economies and the table-by-table group discussions that were held at the RBHR Forum, as a future method of internal enlightenment on human rights.

Mr. Sunamichi, Sojo Company】
I was impressed by the comments from rights holders (parties concerned) and NGOs in the Global South throughout the forum sessions. I was reminded of the importance of understanding their views on human rights DD that will be strengthened in the future through institutionalization, etc., when Japanese companies promote human rights initiatives.

Q5 : In closing, please tell us how you would like to make use of what you gained from the 9/15 field tour in the future.

Suntory HD Nakamura】
I would like to share within the company the many lessons learned through the dialogue that only a local tour can provide, and I would like to continue to exchange opinions and share information with those I have connected with through networking in order to expand our activities to promote human rights DD activities. Seeing is believing, and we would like to encourage more people in our company to participate in this event to broaden their perspectives and make the most of our activities.

Mr. Sunamichi, Sojo Company]
Since I was able to make acquaintances with participants who are in charge of human rights promotion in their respective organizations, I hope to use this event as a valuable network for promoting human rights initiatives, where a wide range of issues exist. I also hope to be more deeply involved in the promotion of overseas DD by making use of the on-site experience I gained this time.

Reference Links

UN Forum on Responsible Business and Human Rights in Asia and the Pacific 2025
UN RBHR Forum 2025 Side Event for Japanese Companies – JP-MIRAI
UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum 2024 Side Event for Japanese Companies – JP-MIRAI