We would like to share the recent initiative of one of our members Social Value and Solidarity Foundation (SVS Fund), towards supporting social economy enterprises affected by the severe economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 outbreak in Korea.
 
As the Korean economy has been hard-hit by this outbreak, which also affects many social economy enterprises lacking sufficient capital to sustain their business, SVS Fund is currently mobilizing a solidarity fund with partner organizations in Korea. As of March 11, 19 organizations are participating.
 

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Despite emergency loans put in place by the government prioritizing SMEs, many social economy enterprises often have difficulties in accessing those loans and, even when social economy enterprises manage to apply, it may take months to receive the fund despite the imminent situation they face. SVS Fund believes that the government measures are insufficient.
 
The emergency fund will be used in supporting Korean social economy enterprises that are on the verge of bankruptcy. In the face of this dire situation, SVS Fund wants to do its part as social economy organizations are trying to help each other.
 
The SVS Fund was established as part of the Korean government's Social Finance Promotion Strategy implemented in February 2018. The Foundation aims to contribute to the development of the social finance ecosystem by backing individual social economy enterprises through various social finance intermediaries.