On Monday June 18, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of Korean conglomerate SK Group, proposed concrete plans to invigorate global social enterprise at the Rio+20 Forum held in Brazil. He suggested “creating the Global Action Hub, the IT platform where the building blocks of social enterprise can be exchanged” to solve social problems.
In a speech at the Closing Plenary Session of the Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, Chey underscored the importance of creating “an ecosystem for autonomous development of social enterprise” as prerequisite to bolster social enterprise.
Chey emphasized that the Global Action Hub is not just a simple IT platform but a comprehensive one where investors, experts and social entrepreneurs would join forces for networking, information exchange to further enhance positive effects by social enterprise. In other words, SK’s vision is to build a single international social enterprise portal, connecting the entire world.
SK and UNGC will be jointly driving the hub project to open it at the end of 2014 with further cooperation from partners like global companies and international organizations. When the system is ready to go, the information and human resources network will be built, which is crucial to start a social enterprise or to make investments. The long term plan is expected to include consulting or CSR evaluation services.
Chey added, “We will run a MBA program introduced by the KAIST, in tandem with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, so that the values of the UN are naturally permeated through activities of social entrepreneurs.”
At another session organized by SK to discuss the possibility of solving social problems through social enterprise, Chey emphasized, “We need to bring innovation into traditional CSR activities. Considering the increasing influence of private sectors, developing and supporting social entrepreneurship will be an effective alternative for social participation activities,” adding, “To realize this aim, it is crucial for countries and sectors to cooperate with each other to expand the concept of social enterprise from a global perspective.”
Chey is notably seen as a strong supporter for social enterprises, having recently turned SK Group’s maintenance, repair, and operations business into Korea’s largest social enterprise in terms of annual sales.
Lee Man-woo, President of SK Group PR Team, said, “Chairman Chey will do whatever it takes to energize social enterprise and drive in his attempt to address social problems across the world. As was shown at the Global Action Hub with his action plans in detail, SK Group will continue to work on fostering social entrepreneurship across the globe.”
Photo from Business Wire.
