The government has announced a comprehensive plan to develop the social solidarity economy, which encompasses social enterprises, cooperatives, and village enterprises.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Social Solidarity Economy, prepared jointly by 20 government ministries, at a Cabinet meeting today (June 30).

The plan aims to expand the social solidarity economy by increasing financial and tax support for relevant organizations and boosting the participation of social enterprises and cooperatives in four key areas closely related to daily life: care, housing, energy, and rural development.

[Interview: Yun Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: Through this plan, we intend to expand the scale of the social solidarity economy to 10% of the GDP by 2035.]

In the energy sector, the government plans to increase the number of "Sunshine Income Villages," where resident cooperatives use solar power profits for local welfare, to over 3,000 by 2030. In the care and housing sectors, it will promote the participation of social solidarity economy organizations in community-integrated care and housing supply projects.

To support this, the government has decided to expand financial assistance for these organizations.

The plan includes increasing funding from the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency from 6 billion won to 15 billion won per year, and raising the guarantee scale of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund from 250 billion won this year to 350 billion won by 2030.

In the private sector, banks will increase loans for the social solidarity economy to 4.3 trillion won by 2028, and Saemaul Undong Finance will expand its lending by 200 billion won over the next five years.

The government will also strengthen support at each stage from startup to growth, such as providing customized startup support for social enterprises and offering up to 100 million won in commercialization funds to social solidarity economy firms within three years of their founding.

To expand market access, the government will push for institutional improvements to prioritize social solidarity economy organizations when outsourcing public services to the private sector.

When social enterprises and social cooperatives sign public contracts with local governments, they will be exempted from the 5% bid bond. Following the enactment of the Framework Act on the Social Solidarity Economy, the government plans to introduce a mandatory public procurement system.

The government also intends to establish a system to integrate and manage policies currently dispersed across different ministries at the pan-governmental level through the enactment of the Framework Act on the Social Solidarity Economy.

Reported by Yun Nara | Video by Yoon Tae-ho | Produced by SBS Digital News