SEOUL — Public Procurement Service Administrator Baek Seung-bo met with Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-mun and 22 executives of small and medium-sized enterprises at the federation's Seoul office on Sept. 16 to hear the difficulties the companies face in the field.
Ahead of the meeting, the agency outlined key policies it pursued in the first half of the year, including greater autonomy for local governments in procurement, blocking paper companies and firms responsible for serious industrial accidents from winning public contracts, and preemptive responses to supply-chain risks stemming from the war in the Middle East. For the second half, the agency said it plans to widen access for artificial intelligence products to the public procurement market and to give preferential treatment to companies based outside the greater Seoul area.
The executives said support in the public procurement market is essential if smaller companies are to weather difficult economic conditions, and they raised 23 issues they encounter on the ground.
"Good policy begins with voices from the field," Baek said. "Let the Korea Federation of SMEs convey the real voices of small and medium-sized enterprises to the Public Procurement Service without holding anything back, so that we can find solutions together."
