Small IT Companies Request Gyeonggi-do Office of Education to Reconsider Smart Device Bidding Method

"Contracts by Negotiation Favor Large Corporations"

The small and medium-sized enterprise sector urged the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to reconsider the bidding method for the ‘Smart Device Distribution Project.’

Classes Using Smart Devices. The Above Photo Is Not Related to the Article.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

The Gyeonggi IT Association Council held a press conference on the 21st at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, “The Gyeonggi Provincial Council’s Education Committee and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education unilaterally changed the existing ‘Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)’ to a ‘Negotiated Contract’ method without prior coordination or consultation with related companies, resulting in a specific large corporation monopolizing the contract without competition.” The Gyeonggi IT Association Council is a consultative body representing SMEs located in Gyeonggi Province related to the Office of Education’s smart device distribution project. It includes tablet and laptop suppliers, charging box and accessory companies, and installation firms.

MAS is a system where the Public Procurement Service signs unit price contracts with multiple contractors, allowing demand institutions to purchase products through the ‘Nara Marketplace’ shopping mall. The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has also been receiving smart devices through MAS. Woo-sik Choi, chairman of the Gyeonggi IT Association Council, emphasized, “Thanks to this method, products from both large corporations and SMEs could be provided through fair competition.”

With the change from MAS to a ‘Negotiated Contract’ method, the small and medium IT industry is concerned about a specific large corporation monopolizing the contract. Chairman Choi explained, “The negotiated contract method evaluates proposals submitted by multiple suppliers and contracts with the one deemed most advantageous. Since the evaluation focuses on technical capability, financial structure, management status, personnel, organization, and management technology, it inevitably favors large corporations over SMEs. This means the possibility of SMEs winning the bid is virtually nonexistent.”

Chairman Choi also stated, “The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education’s intention to contract using the negotiated contract method for defect repair work, which accounts for only 10% of the total 292.3 billion KRW budget for the ‘2023 Smart Device Distribution Project,’ is nothing but a trick to purchase products from a specific large corporation. The market quality of tablets supplied by SMEs so far has been very stable and is being well used in schools.”

He added, “The smart device distribution project by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education can be effectively promoted without any problems in achieving the project’s objectives through the existing MAS two-stage competitive bidding method, where both large corporations and SMEs participate smoothly in bidding and product delivery. Therefore, we strongly request the Gyeonggi Provincial Council and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to fully reconsider the currently announced negotiated contract method.”