KOICA-Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund Sign MOU to Overcome COVID-19... Support for Social Enterprises

Reducing Damage and Supporting Recovery for Domestic and International Social Economy Enterprises
Strengthening Support for Vulnerable Groups such as Women-Owned, Disabled, and Youth Enterprises

On the morning of the 20th, at Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul, Lee Mi-kyung, President of KOICA (left), and Song Kyung-yong, Chairman of the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund (right), are posing for a commemorative photo at the signing ceremony of the 'KOICA-Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund COVID-19 Crisis Joint Overcoming Business Agreement (MOU)'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA and the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the 20th to jointly overcome the unprecedented crisis caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) through international solidarity and cooperation and to realize global social values.

This MOU aims to urgently support the damage mitigation and production recovery resilience of domestic and international social economy enterprises that solve various social values such as job creation for vulnerable groups, improvement of community social services, and regional coexistence through participation, cooperation, and solidarity, thereby protecting the survival rights and sustainable livelihoods of vulnerable groups.

To this end, the two organizations plan to collaborate with civil society partners such as the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), the Fruit Sharing Foundation, the Korea Fair Trade Organization (KFTO), and the Korea YMCA National Council to identify and implement support targets and conduct monitoring.

As the global spread of COVID-19 accelerates, a prolonged economic impact on developing countries is expected due to a sharp decline in consumption in developed countries and paralysis of international trade systems. There is concern about the collapse of community order built on international cooperation of civil society if the disease spreads in countries with weak healthcare systems.

Through this MOU, KOICA and the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund will primarily support grassroots producer organizations in developing countries connected to domestic social economy civil society organizations active in fair trade and international development. They plan to provide emergency support to enable these organizations to operate production systems in alternative ways despite the slowdown in international trade.

They will preserve the production capacity of these organizations and uphold a community-based approach that guarantees sustainable development by providing financial support for production system transformation such as facility introduction, production support through advance orders, and provision of products and services necessary for disaster relief. The support targets will also be diversified to include vulnerable groups such as women-owned enterprises, enterprises for persons with disabilities, and youth enterprises.

Im Gyeong-kyung, Director of KOICA, expressed concern that "COVID-19 is directly impacting the global value chain and especially threatening the survival of domestic and international civil society, social enterprises, and cooperatives that constitute the social economy," emphasizing, "Helping others ultimately helps oneself, so we will actively support global civil society cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 crisis."

Song Kyung-yong, Director of the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund, stated, "International cooperation is essential to preserve civic power even under national emergency systems," adding, "The production and consumption of domestic and international social economy enterprises form a community of fate, and it is not a matter of who to save first but a concern to protect each other's existence and live together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.