The Toyota Foundation held its 50th anniversary symposium titled “Past, Present, and Future of Japan–ASEAN cooperation” on October 25, 2024, at the International House of Japan in Tokyo.

Since its establishment in 1974, the Toyota Foundation has been committed to grant-making activities worldwide. This symposium was held with a view toward reflecting on Japan’s long-running cooperation with Southeast Asian countries—a region targeted for grants by the Foundation—and exploring new possibilities for the future.

Grantees from Japan and other countries, who implemented research projects related to Southeast Asia mostly since the 2010s, were invited to the symposium, and about 100 of them were in attendance. The symposium was comprised of three sessions—a panel discussion from a macro-perspective, another one from a micro-perspective, and a review and wrap-up—and researchers with wide-ranging fields of expertise and experts from the social sector gathered at the venue and engaged in robust discussions and exchanged their views.

In the Session Two titled “Empowering Civil Society in ASEAN-Japan Collaboration,” Professor Shigeto Sonoda of the Institute of Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo, moderated the session. The speakers were Ms. Reiko Harima, the Regional Coordinator for Mekong Migration Network, Dr. Tokihiko Fujimoto, Associate Professor at Meiji University, and Ms. Elisa Sutanudjaja, Executive Director of Rujak Center for Urban Studies. They showcased their stories and expressed their views based on the projects funded by the Foundation.

Ms. Harima introduced strategies taken by civil society organizations to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers in the Mekong subregion. She then elaborated on the case of her own project, emphasizing the importance of cross-country and multi-sectoral cooperation and policy coordination over the issue of migration governance and migrants’ rights protection among ASEAN countries.

Dr. Fujimoto, meanwhile, made a presentation about a case of local energy development through a micro-hydropower generation facility and emphasized how local residents-led efforts on energy and welfare brought about changes in local communities.

In her presentation, Ms. Sutanudjaja focused on sustainable urban development efforts and local communities’ participation in improving Indonesia’s urban environment. She then referred to how these initiatives contributed to empowering civil society and generated social impacts, highlighting the importance of free participation of residents.

Some grant-awarded projects were reviewed in detail and efforts to build trust-based relationships were revisited throughout the session, and the speakers made their cases about how empowering civil society would contribute to sustainable development of local communities.

In the Q&A session, the speakers and audience members compared notes about what it would take to successfully manage international projects and to build trust in dealing with various partners.

Ms. Harima stressed the need to maintain relationships of trust even when organizations involved have divergent views based on their respective stance, and said that long-running relationships between Japan and ASEAN were passed on to the young generation. 

For his part, Dr. Fujimoto discussed how to succeed in running such projects and the accompanying challenges of funding management, adding that monetizing successfully would help increase the level of sustainability of projects but at the same time could also lead to dividing communities.

Ms. Sutanudjaja, meanwhile, talked about differences in her partnerships with Japan, Germany, and the U.S. and recognized Japan’s steadfastness in contributing to her long-term collaboration. Moreover, she spoke about a case in which art was used to promote dialogue, underlining the importance of respecting one another and being who you really are in building relationships of trust with local communities. 

Lastly, Professor Sonoda discussed the significant role that civil society played and expressed his hope that these cases of trust building through grant-awarded projects needed to be communicated even in the business world.

President Haneda expressed concern about fewer opportunities for the Japanese youth to become interested in overseas, particularly Southeast Asia, and stressed the importance of developing an international perspective through exchanges.

Then, Dr. Sato suggested that it should be beneficial to create a place for program officers from private foundations to collaborate and share their experiences of success and failure. In response, Mr. Hideo Tone, program officer of the Toyota Foundation, noted that the Foundation’s current activities were based on its networks of professional connections built over the years of grant-making activities, and that preserving and passing on such trust-based relationships would be crucial.

Through these exchanges of remarks, the commentators noted that relationships of trust and the role of private foundations were prerequisites for cooperation between Japan and ASEAN countries, and they concurred that what would matter for Japan and the international community from now were: 1) having a firm understanding of changing international trends; 2) utilizing a framework of cooperation; 3) and advancing collaboration among different entities.

In his closing remarks, President Haneda stated that the Toyota Foundation would remain firmly committed to supporting cooperative ties between Japan and ASEAN countries and contributing to the development of local communities.