NEW INITIATIVE TO MONITOR ASIAN TNCs LAUNCHED IN TOKYO
(APWSL Japan n. 24 - February 1997)
The First International Symposium on Monitoring Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in Asia was held at the Water Supply Workers' Union Hall in Tokyo on 7 December 1996 by civic groups concerned about the negative effects of TNC activities in Asia. The meeting was attended by over 100 people, including guests from South Korea and Hong Kong and representatives of the media. There were reports and discussions on the experience of monitoring the activitied of Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong TNCs.
The Aim ot the Symposium
The Symposium was sponsored by the People's Action Network to Monitor Japanese TNCs (PAN) and was supported by 12 civic groups, including APWSL Japan, The Japan Consumers' League and the Center for Transnational Labor Studies (CTLS), all actively working on issues related to TNCs. It was able to get a grant from the Tokyo International Foundation and aimed to strenghten the monitoring activiteis of civic groups and NGOs on TNCs in Asia and to form a network among these groups.
The symposium is planned to be held every year, and last December's was the first in a series, with a focus on South Korea. Three guests from two organisations in Korea, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and The Korean Federation of Environmental Movements (KFEM), were invited to report on monitoring the oerseas activities of Korean TNCs. The other guest was a representative from the Asian Monitor Resource Center AMRC) based in Hong Kong. A similar meeting was held in Seoul, Korea by PSPD on 7-8 November and a representative from PAN attended the meeting.
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