Agency shares key public procurement agenda — including procurement autonomy and AI industry support — at Korea Federation of SMEs forum
A forum was held to hear the difficulties small and medium-sized enterprises face on the ground and to discuss ways to remove unreasonable regulations that hinder their entry into the public procurement market and expansion of sales channels.
The Public Procurement Service held a meeting Wednesday at the Korea Federation of SMEs office in Seoul, with Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-moon and 22 SME representatives in attendance.
Ahead of the discussion, the agency outlined its key policy achievements for the first half of this year — including the decentralization of local government procurement, measures to block shell companies and firms responsible for serious workplace accidents from winning public contracts, and preemptive responses to supply chain disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East. It said it would accelerate efforts in the second half to open the public procurement market to AI products and expand preferential treatment for companies based outside the Greater Seoul area.
The SME representatives said public procurement support is essential for small businesses to weather difficult economic conditions, and submitted 23 on-the-ground grievances.
On a request to extend the single-item price adjustment system — currently applied to construction contracts — to goods contracts as well, the agency said it plans to analyze the results of this year's pilot program for single-item price adjustments in goods manufacturing contracts and establish appropriate conditions for such adjustments in the goods sector in the second half of this year.
On a request to systematize information on the progress of multiple-supplier contracts, which companies said has been opaque, the agency said it will improve the Narajangteo shopping mall system so that procurement firms can check relevant details there, with the update available from October.
On a request to extend the "price fluctuation and two-stage competition exception guidelines" issued as part of the response to the war in the Middle East, the agency said it will extend the currently effective guidelines from the end of September through the end of this year, citing continued instability in the region.
The agency said it plans to accommodate other submitted requests where possible, explore alternatives where it cannot, and provide thorough feedback on review outcomes and follow-up measures.
"We will remove as many unnecessary regulations as possible so that small and medium-sized enterprises can participate more easily in the procurement market and focus on innovation and growth," Public Procurement Service Commissioner Baek Seung-bo said. He added that he hoped the Korea Federation of SMEs would serve as a communication channel for SMEs and a strong policy partner alongside the agency.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
