9 Public Institutions in Busan Including BPA Launch 5th Financial Support Project for 'Busan Social Economy Support Fund (BEF)'

Busan Port Authority.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan Port Authority (BPA) and eight other public institutions in the Busan area are recruiting companies eligible for the 5th round of financial support under the "Busan Social Economy Support Fund (BEF)" for social economy enterprises located in Busan until the 24th of this month.

BEF stands for Busan Embracement Fund for Social Economic Development, a fund established by nine public institutions in the Busan area to support the sustainable growth of social economy enterprises, and it is entrusted and operated by the Social Enterprise Research Institute.

The fund was established with a scale of 5 billion KRW over five years starting in 2018 by nine public institutions including the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, Busan Urban Corporation, Busan Port Authority, Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation, Korea Southern Power, Korea Securities Depository, Korea Asset Management Corporation, Korea Housing Finance Corporation, and Korea Ocean Business Corporation.

The "Busan Social Economy Support Fund (BEF)" plans to support up to 550 million KRW to a total of 20 companies based on criteria such as ▲social value ▲sustainability ▲appropriateness of support ▲job creation potential, targeting social economy organizations and social ventures within the Busan area.

Selected companies for financial support will receive management consulting support, and depending on their growth stage, start-up companies will receive up to 20 million KRW in grants, while scale-up companies will be provided with interest-free loans up to 50 million KRW.

Applications will be accepted via email until the 24th, followed by document screening, with final selections planned for May.

Detailed information regarding the application form and recruitment can be found on the websites of Busan Metropolitan City, the 16 district and county offices of Busan, and the Social Enterprise Research Institute.

An online pre-briefing session to help companies understand the support program will be held on the 7th at 3 p.m.

Kang Jun-seok, President of BPA, stated, "We will continue to collaborate with the nine public institutions to create an ecosystem where social economy enterprises can sustain growth, thereby creating jobs and revitalizing the local economy."

Since 2018, the "Busan Social Economy Support Fund (BEF)" has supported a total of 97 companies with 2.36 billion KRW through financial support projects over four years, creating 166 private sector jobs and increasing sales by 5.6 billion KRW, laying the foundation for the growth of social economy enterprises in the Busan area.