KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters. [KOTRA]
KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters. [KOTRA]

KOTRA is launching a new project to help social economy enterprises expand overseas, bundling export marketing with investment attraction, ESG (environmental, social and governance) management, and domestic and international talent recruitment to broaden their growth foundation.

KOTRA announced Tuesday it is rolling out the "Social Solidarity Economy Global Leap Project" starting this year. A seminar introducing the program and one-on-one corporate consultations were also held that day.

The initiative was developed in line with the government's recently announced Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Social Solidarity Economy. It connects KOTRA's existing overseas expansion support functions to help social economy enterprises build self-sustaining capabilities in foreign markets rather than remaining confined to the domestic market.

Support is organized around four main areas: export marketing, startup and investment attraction, ESG management, and domestic and international talent recruitment. KOTRA plans to supplement its existing export support programs with new package offerings and preferential overseas expansion services, allowing social economy enterprises to receive the assistance they need at each stage of growth.

Social economy enterprises are companies that pursue social values alongside profit, addressing issues such as employment, the environment, caregiving and local community challenges. However, they often struggle to enter overseas markets because securing foreign networks, investment information and specialized personnel is harder for them than for conventional small and medium-sized enterprises.

To address these limitations, KOTRA will also run cooperative programs with related agencies. Together with the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, it will carry out the Social Enterprise Step-up Project and the Social Value Index (SVI) measurement program. Companies that receive an excellent or outstanding rating in the SVI assessment will be given bonus points in the selection process for some programs.

The project focuses on an integrated support system rather than one-off consultations, connecting services — overseas buyer discovery, export consulting, investment opportunity exploration and ESG management capacity building — tailored to each company's circumstances. KOTRA said it aims to help social economy enterprises open overseas sales channels and build a sustainable growth structure.

KOTRA has also been expanding its export support for regional businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises. In northern Gyeonggi Province, it held an AI-powered export marketing briefing, introducing a program that supports everything from promotional content production to overseas buyer matching. Support for social economy enterprises can be seen as an extension of this broader trend toward tailored export assistance.

"For social economy enterprises to find opportunities in global markets beyond Korea and achieve sustainable growth, the co-development of the entire ecosystem is essential," KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong said. "KOTRA will strengthen solidarity and cooperation with related agencies and provide tailored support to help social economy enterprises make a global leap, contributing to 'growth for all.'"

Meanwhile, KOTRA received the Ministry of Employment and Labor minister's award this year in recognition of its contributions to opening new sales channels for social enterprises.


kwater@heraldcorp.com