Consultants with 20-plus years of procurement experience offer tailored advice as part of a retired civil servant community-service program
A corps of public procurement advisers is helping small and medium-sized enterprises break into the public procurement market, and their work is significantly boosting satisfaction with Public Procurement Service policy.
The "Public Procurement Guide" program is a business consulting regime the Public Procurement Service has operated since 2024 to lower barriers to entry into the procurement market. Twenty-four advisers stationed at 11 regional procurement offices nationwide provide tailored consulting to small and medium-sized enterprises, venture firms and startups on entering and growing within the public procurement market.
Since 2025, retired Public Procurement Service officials with more than 20 years of experience — selected through the Ministry of Personnel Management's retired civil servant community-service program — have joined as specialist advisers, working alongside existing guides to improve program outcomes and policy satisfaction.
Bluetech Co., a manufacturer of fiber insulation materials including a fire-spread-prevention nano-aerogel specialty insulation product, illustrates the program's impact. Through consulting with a retired-official specialist adviser, the company received tailored guidance on the innovation product designation process and the pilot purchase system. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy designated it an innovation product in December 2025, and its fiber insulation is now listed on the "Innovation Marketplace" and supplied to public institutions.
Kwon Eun-hwa, chief executive of Nexco Co., a synthetic resin deck manufacturer based in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, had long wondered what she needed to prepare to apply for designation as a Public Procurement Service superior procurement product. After receiving consulting from a retired-official adviser, she registered the company's product on the Venture Nara platform in January this year.
"I learned that a credibility bonus score is important for superior procurement product designation," Kwon said. "I hope the community-service program is expanded further so that the know-how of experts with public-sector experience can be more effectively connected to small and medium-sized enterprises."
Lee Hyeong-sik, planning and coordination officer at the Public Procurement Service, said the expertise and experience of retired officials serve as a reliable guide for small and medium-sized enterprises making their first foray into public procurement, helping them enter the market steadily and grow. "We will continue to make full use of retired officials' expertise and experience to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises," he said.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
