[WT News] 3.The ASES Review: “The Social Enterprise Model Suitable to Asia Should be Developed”(11.07.05)

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3. The ASES Review: “The Social Enterprise Model Suitable to Asia Should be Developed”

Interview with Prof. LEE Kwang-Taek, the Executive Director of Work Together Foundation, which Co-organized Asia Social Entrepreneurs Summit (ASES)

Asia Social Entrepreneurs Summit (ASES), ending on November 30^th, 2010, was where almost 300 Asian social entrepreneurs and affiliates shared their experiences with each other. Prof. LEE Kwang-Taek, Executive Director of Work Together Foundation, which hosted this summit, said “Networking among Asian social entrepreneurs will get more active through this summit.” He also said, “A Social Enterprise Model suitable to Asia should be developed”.

Q. What motivated you to hosted ASES?
The Social Enterprise Promotion Act took effect in October, 2007. On the first anniversary of enactment of the law in 2008, I thought it would be great if we could organize a networking platform among Asian social entrepreneurs. I believed that there are many social entrepreneurs abroad who have the same beliefs as us.

Q. Since this is the 2^nd Summit, is there anything that has

changed from previous conferences?
The 1^st Summit was a place for networking with each other. That was aimed as a place where Asian social entrepreneurs could gather together. 35 International participants from 8 different countries and almost 200 domestic participants attended in 2008. However, this year, we decided on a specific agenda of “Asian Poverty and Social Entrepreneurship, a Wave of Change in Asia” and intended to hold a summit to discuss what the social entrepreneurs’ roles are. The number of participants increased to double that of the last summit. I noticed that the level of international social entrepreneurs’ participation also rose in comparison. These effects reflect the well-formed networks that were developed two years ago, as well as the result of rising interest in social enterprise from Asian countries.

Q. Compared to other countries, what do you think are the strong points of Korean social enterprises?

First, the Korean citizens are incredibly interested in social enterprise, and the Social Enterprise Promotion Act can be related to this interest and support of the citizens. Social enterprises that have risen by themselves since the past have become more well-known through the process of governmental orientation. Moreover, it is meaningful that various social enterprises have been established just within two years. This shows that our society’s interest in social enterprises is increasing.

Q. What do you think are the problems of Korean social enterprises?
Korean social enterprises have characteristics of both the American and European enterprises. However, government support is limited to two to three years. So in reality, social enterprises have to be concerned about their futures after the government support ends.
Moreover, Korean social enterprises’ tendency to work only for quantitative growth, is also a matter of concern. To date, 406 social enterprises have been certified in two years, and the government promised to increase certified social enterprises up to 1000 until 2012. However, considering the struggles of the companies that were established even with the support of Venture Company Promotion Act after the IMF crisis, it cannot be guaranteed that all the new enterprises will succeed.

Q. What is the next plan?
I wish all Asian countries will take turns holding the ASES, as we intended. Even though the ASES was held in Korea once again since nobody else had volunteered to host it, I’m thinking of encouraging another Asian country to hold the conference for the next ASES.
Moreover, I hope that Asian social enterprise models are developed through ASES. While we focused on the social enterprises’ role for eradicating poverty in Asia this year, I predict that the next ASES will encourage social entrepreneurs to concretely discuss which social enterprise models can make changes in varied social systems.
The Kyunghyang Newspaper

* ASES 2010

The Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit (ASES) is an international gathering of social entrepreneurs from cities and communities in Asia to envision a network of Asian social entrepreneurs, their supporting bodies, and stakeholders that serves as a database for the most efficient Asian-specific models. The summit theme is ‘Asian Poverty and Social Entrepreneurs Role’. In 2010, 250 participants from 15 Asian countries came to Seoul to attend the ASES. Host: Work Together Foundation Co-Organizers: Work Together Foundation, Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, National Council of Social Enterprises in Korea, Social Enterprise Network, Hope Institute, Institute of Sustainable Development Sponsors: Ministry of Employment and Labor, Presidential Committee on Green Growth Korea, KOICA, East Asia Climate Partnership, SK

Translated: by KIM Gyeol, CHOI Eun-Young, Skye KANG, HONG Yea-Bin

Edited: by Tamara de Mel, HA So-Hee, Marie LEE,