Public Procurement Service Allows Large Companies to Participate in 'Next-Generation Nara Market' Construction... Project to Start in First Half of This Year

Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Schedule. Provided by Public Procurement Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Large companies are now allowed to participate in the ‘Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Project’ promoted by the Public Procurement Service (PPS). The project is expected to officially commence in the first half of this year.

On the 2nd, the PPS announced that it has been exempted from the small and medium software business participation support regulation by the Ministry of Science and ICT for the ‘Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Project.’

Since 2013, the government has restricted large companies from participating in public software projects to support small and medium enterprises in the public software sector.

However, in the case of the next-generation Nara Market, it has been recognized as a highly complex project that integrates and links multiple systems as a core infrastructure for national fiscal expenditure and requires the preemptive application of new technologies, thus allowing large companies to participate exceptionally.

The Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Project aims to completely rebuild the existing Nara Market system based on digital new technologies by 2023 and to absorb and integrate the procurement systems of public institutions.

The PPS is currently negotiating with related ministries to determine the total project cost, and once the total cost is finalized, it plans to complete the selection of contractors through early ordering in the first half of this year and begin full-scale development.

Kang Sung-min, Director of the Procurement Management Bureau at the PPS, said, “Apart from allowing large companies to participate in the Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Project, the PPS will strive to expand participation opportunities for excellent small and medium enterprises and promote the adoption of domestic software. Above all, we will make every effort to ensure that the next-generation Nara Market is built smoothly in line with the government’s Digital New Deal.”