Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Open Contest for 'Preliminary Social Enterprises in Land and Transport' from the 12th

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government is actively promoting the nurturing of 'preliminary' social enterprises that remain at the stage before becoming full social enterprises.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 11th that it will start accepting applications for the "Land, Infrastructure and Transport-type Preliminary Social Enterprises (Urban Regeneration Sector)" from the 12th. Preliminary social enterprises refer to companies that have not met certain certification requirements and thus have not received social enterprise certification, but are supported and nurtured to enable their future transition into social enterprises.

To be designated as a Land, Infrastructure and Transport-type Preliminary Social Enterprise (Urban Regeneration Sector), the company must primarily conduct business activities aimed at achieving social objectives such as providing social services or jobs to vulnerable groups in the urban regeneration sector, or improving the quality of life of local residents through community contributions. The organizational form requirements must also be met, including corporations or cooperatives under civil law, companies or limited partnerships under commercial law, public interest corporations, and non-profit organizations.

The designation types are divided according to the form of social objective realization into ▲Social Service Provider Type ▲Community Contribution Type ▲Job Provider Type ▲Mixed Type ▲Creative Innovation Type, etc.

The application period is from the 12th until the 17th of next month. Applications can be submitted through the Social Enterprise Integrated Information System. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to designate preliminary social enterprises in early September after procedures including document review, on-site inspection, and evaluation committee review.

Once designated as a preliminary social enterprise through these procedures, eligibility is granted to participate in financial support projects such as wage support for job creation projects promoted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and local governments, wages for professional personnel, and business development expenses. Additionally, when participating as a support institution in small-scale regeneration projects, extra points will be awarded during the selection process. Extra points will also be given in the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) guarantee review for demand-oriented loans from the Housing and Urban Fund, and the loan limit will be increased from the existing 70% to 80%.

For more detailed information regarding this call for applications, please refer to the announcement posted on the Social Enterprise Integrated Information System or the Urban Regeneration Comprehensive Information System websites.

Cho Sung-gyun, Director of the Urban Regeneration Strategy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Social economy entities play an important role in enabling residents to feel the effects of urban regeneration projects by realizing social objectives while also creating jobs in the community. We expect many social ventures and various companies pursuing social objectives to show great interest and apply in this call for applications."

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