President Moon: "The Spirit of Cooperatives Must Spread as a Value Throughout Our Society" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Lee Ji-eun] On the 1st, President Moon Jae-in attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress and emphasized the role of cooperatives, which have emerged as icons of 'solidarity and cooperation,' stating that "the spirit of cooperatives should spread as a value throughout the world and across our society."

President Moon said, "When cooperation among social economy enterprises, including cooperatives, becomes closer, economies of scale can be realized and the competitiveness of win-win cooperation can be enhanced," adding, "When ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, which social economy enterprises have practiced, spreads to general companies, the path to carbon neutrality will also come closer." He particularly emphasized the importance of participation by ordinary citizens.

President Moon stated, "Korea has a tradition of solving community problems through cooperation such as Dure and Pumasi, where people helped each other during busy farming seasons. Modern cooperatives also naturally blossomed," highlighting that Korea has traditions similar to cooperatives.

He also mentioned that since the Moon administration selected 'activation of the social economy' as a national agenda in 2017, the number of social economy enterprises, including cooperatives, has surged from 20,000 to 31,000 in just four years.

President Moon said, "The Korean government will further grow the social economy, including cooperatives," and added that efforts are being made for the prompt passage of the three social economy laws?the ‘Basic Social Economy Act,’ the ‘Social Value Act,’ and the ‘Social Economy Market Support Act’?in the National Assembly, as well as active participation in international cooperation.

About 300 people, including Ariel Guarco, President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), overseas leaders, and domestic social economy figures, attended the event. This congress is being held for the first time in nine years since the 2012 Manchester congress in the UK. It is the second time the event has been held outside Europe, after Japan in 1992.

The Blue House explained, "The event was held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the ICA’s founding and the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Cooperative Identity Declaration in 1995, to explore the identity of cooperatives amid current crises such as COVID-19 and climate change, and to seek the future direction of cooperatives." The social economy, represented by cooperatives, is a key pillar of the people-centered economy and inclusive nation pursued by the Moon Jae-in administration.

Meanwhile, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, presented "the achievements of the social economy activation policies over the past four and a half years of the Moon Jae-in government and future directions" at the event. Minister Hong explained major achievements including the establishment of an integrated support system among the private sector, central, and local governments; the creation of a social economy ecosystem foundation through manpower, finance, and public procurement; expansion into various fields that were blind spots for social economy enterprises; and strengthening solidarity and cooperation to create social value.