The Korea Social Value Solidarity Foundation participated in the GSEF 2025 General Assembly and Forum held across Bordeaux, France, from 29 to 31 October. Held under the slogan “Another world is already here!”, this forum was the largest event to date, attracting 10,800 participants from the social solidarity economy sector across France and 109 countries worldwide.

During the plenary session on social finance, Kim Young-sik, Director of the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund, participated as a panellist. Alongside the European Federation of Ethical and Solidarity Economy Banks (FEBEA), France’s Crédit Agricole-Grameen Foundation, and France’s AEMA Group, he discussed how to strengthen social finance institutions, focusing on the experiences of Korea’s social solidarity economy ecosystem and the Foundation itself. Furthermore, in a roundtable session discussing the leverage effect of social finance, alongside panellists from Quebec, Canada; France; and the Central African Republic, the Foundation discussed its establishment as a wholesale fund and its role as a catalyst for funds, based on its experimental work to date.  

The GSEF2025 Bordeaux Declaration begins with the statement: “We, the participants, declare that the social solidarity economy is a project of social transformation.” It reaffirms that the social solidarity economy is an ‘economy of dialogue and peace’, possessing the ‘stabilising force’ to reduce societal tensions and inequalities through the principles of cooperation and solidarity. The declaration also proclaims that the social solidarity economy is the future economy that will achieve ecological transition and sustainability.

Bordeaux Declaration: https://www.gsef-net.org/en/bordeaux-gsef-2025-declaration?fbclid=IwY2xjawN6OCBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFLNzQ5THp4SUdNVGc5czA0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHv4XfXX7XyH5x9TmsGQJwzxQocgkUjVyNOk0PvX5jdbgH42DnFkXTUBiqvMF_aem_Pr7631mP-BqZwy312b092A