Two hundred social entrepreneurs in Asia gathered in Korea!
Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit (ASES) 2008
Kim Alter from the Skoll Centre gave the keynote speech with the theme, “The introduction of
social enterprise and its entrepreneurs.”
On October 28, the first large gathering of Asian social entrepreneurs was held in Korea with the name ‘ASES 2008: Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit.’ About 200 Korean and other Asian social entrepreneurs participated in this summit, showing their enthusiasm for social entrepreneurship.
At the summit’s opening, AHN Jae Woong, the executive director of the Work Together Foundation (Master of the Ceremony), expressed, “It is a sensational moment in human history that the social entrepreneurs in Asia can meet in one place and communicate for the development of each other.”
SONG Wol Joo, the chairman of ASES 2008, made the welcome address with his wish that ASES 2008 could be the first platform for Asian social entrepreneurs to develop together.
SHIN Young Chul, the director of the employment policy bureau, said in the congratulatory comment, “The Korean government believes social entrepreneurship will be the solution for social problems and we try to promote social entrepreneurship with social enterprise promotion acts, and other support systems.”
The opening keynote speech from Sutia Kim Alter had the theme of “The introduction of
social enterprise and its entrepreneurs.” She has traveled to about 35 countries for business consulting and the development of social enterprises for 18 years.
She gave the examples of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Aravind Eye Hospital in India, both of which had a global impact as social enterprises. Then she put emphasis on obtaining economic stability with practices, processes, and policies for social entrepreneurship to create social values and sustainability in society.
The first session was the introduction of Social Entrepreneurship in Korea. KIM Hye Won from the Korea Labor Institute presented “the Background and Prospects of Social Enterprises in Korea.” LEE Eun Ae from the Work Together Foundation then presented “the Present Situation and Practices of Social Enterprises in Korea.” Next, HONG Sang Sik from Kyobo Life Insurance Ltd.—which supported the first social enterprise in Korea, DASOMI Care Service—spoke about “the Social Enterprise in Korea and CSR.”
In the second and third sessions for “Social Entrepreneurship in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and the Philippines,” speakers representing each country and region introduced social entrepreneurship and cases in their countries
Chinzah Lalmanzuala from India explained the general situation in India and social enterprises related with this situation. He said social enterprise is not a new solution to problems, but exists always as a niche enterprise to fill the gap of society in India. “Even though India has had rapid economic growth recently, it is centralized only on big cities; however, they have really serious economic problems in rural areas. There must be a way to overcome these difficulties. I believe social enterprise is the solution for this economic gap.”
His co-presenter from India, Khushuroo Poacha, introduced us to his social enterprise, Indianblooddonors.com, which is a sharing information service network for blood donors.
Albert C. Y. Teo from Singapore introduced us to several challenges that social enterprises are confronting in Singapore. He explained that most Singaporean social enterprises could be classified as work integration type organizations, and their main issues are securing stable incomes and addressing a lack of professionals.
Timothy Kam Wa Ma from Hong Kong insisted on the necessity of laws to protect social enterprises and an education system to empower social entrepreneurs. He stated that there has to be a research analysis on social entrepreneurship; how does it change communities and the world? He also introduced ways to obtain PR for social enterprises through the media.
Marie Lisa Dacanay from the Philippines started her presentation with the fact that the Philippines has just been taken off of the list of underdeveloped countries, and international support has been reducing rapidly. She explained the necessity of social enterprise, linking it with problems such as economic polarization and environmental destruction. She also insisted that Corporate Social Responsibility in the Philippines has to be developed, since corporations currently view it as a kind of charitable donation.
Andy Kao from Taiwan explained that Taiwanese social enterprises are largely dependent on grants. He put emphasis on measuring the social impact of social enterprises, since the amount of social value they create is more important than how much they earned.
In the evening, there was a welcome reception for the participants to network with one another. Two hundred attendees enjoyed the reception, including celebrities such as JIN Young (politician of Hannara-dang, the Grand National Party), LEE Jae Gap (chief director of the Employment Policy Office), and SEO Hyung Soo (ex-president and advisor of the Hankyoreh).
Edited and rivesed by Patrick Ferraro
|
