Social Enterprises to Receive 19.6 Billion Won for Tackling Regional Issues

The government will provide 19.6 billion won this year to support social enterprises in collaborating with local governments to solve pressing issues such as youth employment and care deficits. This initiative goes beyond individual company support, focusing on creating a social solidarity economy ecosystem where various stakeholders, including social enterprises, local governments, and residents, work together to identify and solve regional problems.

This year's project will proceed with two main pillars: labor integration and integrated care. Local governments will identify key challenges tailored to their regional conditions, and social solidarity economy companies will participate to build customized solutions. This will enable social enterprises to establish themselves stably in their regions and simultaneously contribute to solving local issues and achieving sustainable growth.

Eleven local governments were selected from non-metropolitan areas through a public call for proposals: Gyeongbuk, Daegu, Gwangju, Chungbuk, Ulsan, Jeju, Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam, Busan, Chungnam, and Jeonnam. A total of 19.6 billion won will be invested in resolving regional social issues, with 13.7 billion won coming from national funds and 5.9 billion won from local funds.

At the launch ceremony, Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Gwangju presented their representative project models. Daegu plans to implement models supporting the re-entry of at-risk and vulnerable youth into the labor market and establishing intermediate care facilities and community care systems for discharged patients. Gyeongbuk will operate models providing industry-specific job adaptation and employment linkage support for unemployed vocational high school graduates, along with community-based integrated care programs centered around senior welfare centers. Gwangju will pursue models supporting youth social entry based on digital skills and providing customized care services for underserved groups like unregistered children.

The Director-General of the Integrated Employment Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated that social solidarity economy companies are key actors in solving local community problems, leveraging their expertise and innovation accumulated in the field.