Mayor may adopt 'coop' system

By Yun Suh-young Park Won-soon Seoul mayor Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is currently on a trip to Bologna, Italy, to observe how cooperatives are run successfully and what support activities they needed. Park plans to adopt the cooperative system in Seoul to help small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs survive in a market dominated by conglomerates. “The cooperatives can be an alternative solution in our polarized society. They can create sustainable jobs and resolve unemployment problems,” said Park. Park made a visit to the northern Italian city Thursday to visit famous cooperatives and learn how they operated. Bologna is a city known for this well-established system that incorporates consumers, producers and even housing and childcare cooperatives. He visited Coop Adriatica and Lega Coop Bologna and met with the Mayor of Bologna Virginio Merola. The two discussed ways to invigorate cooperatives and measures for the two cities to exchange experience and know-how. Park was briefed on how the city succeeded in setting up so many cooperatives as well as about the importance of the support to back them up. He also met with Stefano Zamagni, a professor at the University of Bologna, and was briefed on cases of failure. They discussed the importance of local government support to maintain cooperative’s autonomy and independence. On Friday, Park visited a care cooperative called Cadiai and a childcare facility run by the government and a private cooperative. Park’s efforts come as he is striving to benchmark the Italian city and make Seoul a city of cooperatives. In July, the city announced its vision to create a “cooperative city” and a law on cooperatives is also due to take effect starting Dec. 1. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is currently running a consultation center providing information and consultation on creating cooperatives. At the moment, all Seoul citizens are free to create their own, however, the concept is rather new to people and they may need further advice. “If we discover niche services that have been overlooked in our society, we can create many jobs for the unemployed, retired and young people. To do this, cooperatives are the best answer,” Park said. This is because every member becomes an owner and they learn to run the organization with ownership. This creates passion, efficiency and creativeness. Park paid special attention to the Karabak Project which is a cooperative supported by the government that provides childcare services. The facilities are built by the government but run by cooperative members. He also visited the factory of A. Testoni, a hand-made shoe brand. Park announced in October that he would support shoemakers in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, to invigorate the hand-made shoe industry.