On September 18–19, 2025, the International Seminar on Credit Cooperatives was held on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, organized by the MG Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the national federation of Korean agricultural cooperatives.

For the second year in a row, Federcasse was invited to the conference — not only to present the Italian Credit Cooperative system, but also to share ideas and strategies for growth and development.
The Korean federation MG KFCC, which organized and hosted the event, has a relatively recent history compared to that of the Italian Cooperative Credit system. The first five credit cooperatives were established in 1963 in the southern part of the peninsula, while the national federation was founded ten years later, in 1973. However, the Korean cooperative movement shares some foundational characteristics with its Italian counterpart: the first cooperatives were founded in rural areas, primarily with the goal of fighting poverty and improving the economic and social conditions of the communities they served.
This story is not that different from the one that led Leone Wollemborg to establish the first Cassa Rurale in Loreggia in 1883, following in the footsteps of Wilhelm Raiffeisen’s experience in Germany.

In just over fifty years, agricultural credit cooperatives have spread throughout the country, becoming one of the pillars of the local financial system. By 2020, their total assets had exceeded 200 trillion Korean won (equivalent to over €120 billion ). Moreover, the federation is part of a well-structured international network: in addition to being an associate member of the EACB – the European Association of Co-operative Banks, it also runs several well-established development and international cooperation projects in Myanmar, Laos, Fiji, and Uganda.

The seminar held on September 18–19 was a valuable opportunity for learning and knowledge exchange, bringing together a diverse group of international participants. In addition to representatives of the Korean federation and experts from the MG Financial Research Institute, the event also featured professors and academic researchers from universities across the country, as well as professionals from various organizations, such as Japan’s Shinkin Central Bank and IFAD, the United Nations agency for rural development.

On the first day of the seminar, a wide range of topics related to credit cooperation were presented and discussed — from the role of financial cooperatives in rural development to the importance of sustainable development as a means to ensure financial inclusion.
Park Sang-Ho, Head of Special Programs at IFAD, emphasized the excellence of the financial cooperation model, which is often introduced in lower-income countries to foster financial inclusion and expand access to credit.

The seminar was also a valuable opportunity to better understand how cooperative systems operate in countries very different from Italy. Kazutoshi Warashina, Senior Analyst at the Shinkin Heavy Finance Research Institute, highlighted the crucial role of Japan’s financial cooperative network — the Shinkin Banks. These institutions serve more than 100 million clients, almost 9 million members, and manage an enormous amount of liquidity, exceeding €1,000 billion. The Shinkin Banks also have their own central bank — the Shinkin Central Bank — which coordinates and supervises the 254 member banks and approximately 7,100 branches across the country.

Likewise, Korea’s representative financial cooperative, Saemaul Geumgo — a member of KFCC — plays a key role in the national economy, particularly in terms of local development and access to credit for segments of the population often excluded from traditional financial systems. This role is not unlike that of the Italian Banche di Credito Cooperativo.

Jeong-Heyok Jeong, professor at Seoul National University and chairman of the seminar, highlighted two important challenges for the future of Saemaul Geumgo: not only strengthening profitability, but also restoring its local identity, to ensure the creation of value that is not only economic but also social within the community. Once again, this underlines how — even in contexts that are geographically distant — maintaining a strong identity is essential for ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth
On the second day of the conference, participants visited a local credit cooperative — Sannam Saemaul Geumgo, located in the city of Seogwipo, on Jeju Island. Although it is a relatively young cooperative, established in 1979, and operates through a single branch, this bank serves over 16,000 members (out of Jeju’s total population of 600,000). As of December 31, 2024, it had collected more than €150 million in deposits and issued over €135 million in loans. The bank benefits from a highly active and cohesive membership base and is deeply engaged in both social and economic development within its community. It promotes social initiatives such as cultural and sports activities and supports local economic growth by financing public utility projects, including improvements to the transportation network in the area where it operates.

Taking part in events like this is important not only for strengthening ties with international cooperative organizations that share the same goals and development strategies as the Cooperative Credit system, but also to “create a new turning point for the development of marginalized communities by sharing know-how and exploring various opportunities for collaboration between related organizations” , as highlighted by an official from the MG Financial Research Institute.

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