On Monday the 27th of February, Marimo5.,Ltd. and CRT Japan will convene a pre-event of the forthcoming Stakeholder Engagement Program in Thailand, at the Multipurpose Hall of the Japanese Embassy in Thailand.

The Program Content is available below.
English Japanese

In the 2016 Stakeholder Engagement Program in Thailand, participants from global initiatives, local NGOs and business people from Thai companies and foreign subsidiaries of Japanese companies attended the Program and conducted a dialogue on the issues and risks surrounding companies; for example on the lives of people in the communities in which they operate and through the working conditions of their employees. After this dialogue, some Japanese companies started initiatives to address the issues discussed in the dialogue. The Embassy of Japan in Thailand promotes the “Cooperation to Address Aging as well as Safety and Human Security Issues(the Pillar 3, Objective 8)” in its 2017 Policy Objectives (5 Pillars and 10 Objectives). It recognizes the importance of this Program, and offers a great support to it.

There is a rising global voice from stakeholders to pressure companies to address human rights violations in their supply chains. As a response to this and the 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act, many global companies have enhanced their human rights due diligence.

In this context, it is very important for companies to develop a system that enables them to listen to local voices and understand what human rights issues may occur in their supply chains. This Program provides a great opportunity for companies to understand the context of human rights issues and to facilitate the development of a responsible supply chain with employees of their foreign subsidiaries.

We believe that based on the idea of “Think Global, Act Local”, this Program will help your company to take an initial step towards the development of a well-functioning business environment.

Please share this Program with your colleagues. We look forward to seeing you and your colleagues at the pre-meeting event in Thailand.

Overview

What is Stakeholder Engagement?

Stakeholder engagement is to create a relationship with stakeholders (interested parties) in the global and domestic business operations of a company and to have a dialogue with them over various issues including any concerns they may have and the potential impacts of the company`s business operations to local communities. Especially, in the way that the supply chain works, for example the employment conditions of foreign workers, child labour, the hygiene of work environments, and the health and safety of employees, these issues are drawing attentions around the world.

With a background like above, stakeholder engagement can provide an opportunity for a company to gain an understanding about their business and CSR (corporate social responsibility) from stakeholders, and for stakeholders to express their opinions and expectations to a company.

ISO26000, the international standard for CSR, also positions ‘stakeholder engagement’ as one of the substantial concepts. Business operations that protect the human rights of employees and stakeholders is becoming an essential task for businesses in the future. We hope this seminar will serve as an opportunity for us to consider and discuss how companies should develop their CSR activities and what kind of collaboration should be enhanced between internal organizations like CSR and HR departments in the future.