The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is moving forward in their regional economic integration by 2015. The regional integration includes setting up regional social protection for all migrant workers and labour standards recognizing migrant workers as an integral part of labour who need social security. The migration of workers and their families, including low and unskilled workers, many of whom are undocumented, needs more serious consideration within the national and portal regional social protection schemes.

The Democratic Party of Japan won the general election in August 2009 and this is regarded as a historic victory as well as a turning point for Japan, in the sense that it ended the one-party rule by the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) that had lasted for more than fifty years in postwar Japan. Many of the policy promises presented in the election manifesto of the Democratic Party were in the welfare or social policy area, as in the examples of increased and extended family allowance for children, reforms of the healthcare system for the elderly, reorganization of the pension system, etc. In part, this can be seen as a backlash against the many problems such as growing economic inequality caused by the so-called ‘Koizumi reform’ with its strong neo-liberal orientation. In this context, the victory of the Democratic Party can be interpreted as a beginning for the first government of social democracy in Japan. On the other hand, the Democratic Party of Japan still does not have a comprehensive vision or consistent philosophy in welfare policy or public policy in general, and its election promises look rather ad-hoc and fragmented, including the issue of finances for the expanded welfare benefits.