Kim Bo-ra, Mayor of Anseong, Shares Global Vision of 'Social Solidarity Economy' at GSEF Bordeaux Forum

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Chan-hyuk] Kim Bo-ra, Mayor of Anseong, who is visiting France to participate in the '2025 International Social Solidarity Economy Council (GSEF) Bordeaux Forum,' has shared the vision and experience of region-based social solidarity economy with the international community while strengthening global exchanges.

The Bordeaux Forum, running from October 29th through the 31st, brought together approximately 5,500 participants from 70 countries worldwide, including central government officials, mayors and other local government leaders, social economy entrepreneurs, and representatives of international organizations, with discussions continuing on seven key agendas.

Mayor Kim participated in the forum as the chair of the National Council of Local Governments for Social Solidarity Economy representing Korean local governments and as the representative of the GSEF Asia Continental Chair. On the first day of the forum, October 29th, he held talks at the official invitation of Mayor Pierre Hurmic of Bordeaux, the host city.

During the talks, Mayor Pierre Hurmic expressed the will to exchange with Korean local governments, and explained challenges facing Bordeaux—the world's largest wine region—including climate crisis and farmland utilization issues. Mayor Kim emphasized the similarities between Anseong and Bordeaux in their major industries of agriculture and livestock, and shared meaningful moments by exchanging visions on regional innovation policies that could lead to improved resident welfare, and shared common agendas and cooperation possibilities between the two cities.

On the second day of the forum, October 30th, Mayor Kim Bo-ra participated in the 'The future lies in the regions' session with a panel composed of representatives of social solidarity economy networks from local governments around the world in his capacity as Asia Continental Chair and Chair of the National Council of Local Governments for Social Solidarity Economy, and introduced policies being pursued by Anseong City and the local government council for revitalizing the social solidarity economy.

Starting from a brief overview of the Anseong region as a complex urban-rural area, he presented various policy implementation details such as social enterprise startup support linked to city projects with the policy direction of quantitative and qualitative growth of social economy organizations, and also introduced 'The Safest Public Bath in the World in Iljuk,' a successful case where the private conglomerate, social economy organization, and local government collaborated to remodel an aged public bathhouse in the region into a local care community space.

In addition, he discussed future challenges facing regions together with the leaders of networks from various countries including Reves (European Local Government Network) and REMCESS (Cameroon Local Government Network) and other local government leaders who participated as fellow panelists, thereby elevating the international standing of Korean local governments including Anseong City.

Mayor Kim Bo-ra stated, "The key to sustainable urban development lies in social solidarity economy based on the unique values and community capacity that regions possess," and added, "Anseong has a field organized mainly around vulnerable employment and agricultural cooperatives, and our goal going forward is to establish organizations that solve diverse social problems such as single-person households, climate crisis, and foreign workers."

He further commented, "Following this GSEF Bordeaux Forum, Anseong will strengthen its status as a hub city for social solidarity economy in Asia and expand its cooperation networks with diverse regions including Europe and Africa."

Meanwhile, GSEF is a global network established in 2013 to promote regional problem-solving and social economic development through international solidarity between social economy organizations and local governments, with Seoul serving as the first chair city.