Gyeonggi Governor had a meeting with Yozma Group Chairman Yigal Erlich on July 1.

Governor Kim requested cooperation in creating Gyeonggi Province Job Creation Fund. 

◇ Governor Kim met Yozma Group Chairman Yigal Erlich and had a conversation on Gyeonggi Province Job Creation Fund (GPJC Fund) in the afternoon on July 1 at KINTEX in Ilsan. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon

“We are going to foster Gyeonggi-style global hidden champions by investing heavily in start-ups  within Gyeonnggi Province, which have outstanding ideas and solid technical skills . We plans to create and operate Gyeonggi Province Job Creation Fund (GPJC Fund) of KRW 30 billion to invest into the projects for small companies.”

In the afternoon on July 1, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo met and had a conversation with  Yigal Erlich, chairman of the Yozma Group, an Israel firm, who gained public attention in Korea after the Yozma Fund being designated as a best practice by the Park Geun-hye Administration for its economic paradigm called “creative economy,” on supporting systems for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the GPJC Fund. 

At the meeting, Governor Kim explained status of GPJC Fund, which plans to invite investments from September, and requested an active cooperation from the Yozma Fund. 

Governor Kim said, “Amid struggling global economy, all of the nations is making every effort to attract companies in order to develop their economy and create jobs. Last week, we paid a visit to European countries including Sweden, Denmark, and Germany to benchmark their support systems for  SMEs, and we successfully attracted investments in Gyeonggi Province from major international companies  including Scania and Walvoil.”

He suggested, “Even though Gyeonggi Province has world-class technologies, we  often suffers losses due to a lack of information such as  international distribution network. I’d like to consult him about international network and discuss  mutual and cooperative measures related to Israel’s successful system for start-ups.”, adding “Through this discussion, I hope promising young people can actively advance into overseas market such as Israel and the U.S.”

◇ Governor Kim and Yozma Group Chariman Yigal Erlich have commemorative photos taken after exchanging gifts. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News Yoo Je-hoon 

Mr. Yigal Erlich, then, said, “I’d like to support the GPJC Fund by consulting and advising on it.“In particular, I will  strive for establishing strong global networks by building ties with the government.”

Meanwhile, the Yozma Fund is a venture capital jointly established by the Israeli government and private companies in 1993. Its initial value of the fund was USD 250 million in value, but now, 20 years after its launch, the value grew to USD 4 billion and became a major funding source for IT ventures in Israel. 

The Yozma Fund became famous as it was known as a new government’s benchmarking program to foster venture businesses, and Chairman Erlich gained attention as he delivered a speech on the creative economy at the national assembly in March.

Gyeonggi Province has been preparing for the GPJC Fund, explained by Governor Kim on that day, in order to make a heavy investment  into technology-intensive ventures, which will significantly make a contribution in creating jobs and plans to establish the fund  in  September this year. 

By investing KRW 10 billion in SMEs supporting funds and attracting KRW 20 billion from companies by selecting an investment management company , Gyeonggi Province plans to collect more than KRW 30 billion in total. Operated for a period of years, the fund will be spent on companies participating in Gyeonggi Small Business Supporting Projects such as G-Startup, G-STAR, and Promising Gyeonggi Small Business Project.  

ⓒGyeonggi G-News | Rohh Kyung-Hee khrohh@kg21.net 

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201307021132277055C048&s_code=C048