Gwangju Dong-gu Selected for 2 Village Enterprise Development Projects Hosted by Ministry of the Interior and Safety

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 21st that ‘Dabok Village Cooperative’ and ‘Happy Use Cooperative’ were finally selected in the 2021 Village Enterprise Promotion Project competition hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and signed support agreements.

The ‘Village Enterprise’ designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is a business where local residents utilize various local resources to create jobs and generate profits. Once designated as a village enterprise, they can receive a total of 100 million KRW in project funds up to the third year.

The recent competition evaluation underwent a comprehensive review of the company’s performance and the appropriateness of the business plan based on ▲community spirit ▲publicness ▲locality ▲business viability, and after the first round of screening by Gwangju Metropolitan City, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety made the final selection.

Dabok Village Cooperative (CEO Ahn Byeong-rak), newly designated as a village enterprise, was designated as a preliminary village enterprise last year and developed Dabok Village’s specialized ▲non-alcoholic Moju beverage manufacturing ▲fermented food production ▲Jisan Village tour course by utilizing local resources.

This year, with 50 million KRW in project funds, they expect to provide jobs and generate income for local residents by developing village tour products and village-specialized fermented beverages.

‘Happy Use Cooperative’ (CEO Park Mi-jin), designated as a third-year advanced village enterprise, has been generating income through sewing education and shared workshops for vulnerable groups and women with career interruptions since its establishment in 2014.

This year, with 20 million KRW in support, they plan to develop eco-friendly products using discarded resources and establish online sales channels.

Im Taek, mayor of Dong-gu, said, “I am pleased that social enterprises in the district are growing into sound village enterprises,” and added, “We will continue to discover various village enterprises that can help revitalize the local economy, such as job creation.”