The Entrepreneurship Support Program for Refugee Empowerment, ESPRE, is the Japan's first microfinance institution for refugees / asylum seekers in the country. ESPRE was approved as a public interest incorporated association on March 1st, 2012, with an initiative of the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), which provides comprehensive support to refugees in Japan. ESPRE believes that refugee entrepreneurship will spur Japanese society with energy and a venture spirit: providing culturally unique goods and services, increasing employment opportunities to others, and building strong networks among communities.