Sumitomo Chemicals is the first Japanese company to join the Global Business coalition to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. They have worked hard for many years in fighting malaria with their long-lasting anti-malaria bed nets. They have currently produced 30 million bed nets to meet the objectives of the Roll Back Malaria global campaign.

What will it take to get more Japanese comapnies on board?

I was talking with Ms. Joelle Tanguy Managing Director at the GBC and I told her that:
1) it's difficult for HIV/AIDS to register here as an open intimate issue (although the pro-bono campaig during U2's concert in Japan on World Aids Day made some headlines, there is still very little personal stories comming out from the Japanese public.... it just doesn't exist, or it's being hid by the Japanese government)
2) GBC has got to speak the CSR language that Japanese companies use.
3) GBC is not known, but nor is the Global Compact or the MDGs registered well among both corporations and the public. Partnering with publication companies (Nikkei, SOTOKOTO, etc) or development organizations (JICA, USAID, etc) or academics (Keio University, Tokyo University, etc) is a must in Japan, and leveraging the trust they have is key.

And let's hope that we will see a stronger Civil Society grow in Japan with the comming of the G8 Summit in July 2008!