Total Project Budget of 285 Million KRW,
10 to 20 Million KRW per Company for 20 Enterprises
Preliminary and Social Enterprises, Village Enterprises, Social Cooperatives, Self-support Enterprise Corporations
Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) is launching a business development fund support project for social economy enterprises to help alleviate their management difficulties and strengthen their foundation for self-reliance. The city announced the implementation of the project starting from the 14th.
Busan plans to provide business development funds through its own initiative to support local social economy enterprises currently facing challenges, aiming to help these companies establish a foundation for self-sufficiency and secure a stable and sustainable revenue structure.
A social economy enterprise refers to a company that conducts economic activities to pursue social integration and common interests, such as alleviating polarization, promoting virtuous cycles in the local economy, creating quality jobs, and providing social services, based on solidarity and cooperation among members and operating as an independent, autonomous, and democratic organization.
Busan will invest a total project budget of 285 million KRW (200 million KRW from the city and 85 million KRW from districts and counties) to support 20 competitive enterprises that realize social value, providing between 10 million and up to 20 million KRW per company.
The eligible recipients are ▲(Preliminary) Social Enterprises ▲Village Enterprises ▲Social Cooperatives ▲Self-support Enterprises (corporations). The funds can only be used for business development expenses such as technology development, quality improvement, and prototype production.
After a preliminary review and on-site inspection, the final recipient companies will be selected through an expert evaluation committee in early June.
The official announcement can be found on the city's website under Notices and Announcements. Applications for the project can be submitted online through the Integrated Project Management System within the Social Enterprise Portal from April 21 to May 2.
For more details regarding the project, inquiries can be made to the city's Small and Medium Business Support Division or the social enterprise departments of each district or county.
Kim Bongcheol, Director of the Digital Economy Office of Busan, stated, "The social economy is not simply about pursuing profit, but is an essential economic sector for solving our society's problems by providing jobs and services to marginalized groups and revitalizing the local community," adding, "We will strive to ensure that companies pursuing social value can continue their business activities sustainably."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
