"Becoming a Catalyst for Mid-sized Growth"... Public Procurement Promotion Contest Held

The Award Scale Consists of 43 Items Across 3 Categories
Exhibition Also Held for Technology Development Pilot Purchase Products

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 28th that it held the ‘2024 Public Procurement Promotion Ceremony’ at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul.

The scene from last year's Public Procurement Promotion Conference. Provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Since its inception in 2001, the Public Procurement Promotion Ceremony has been an event to reward and encourage outstanding public institutions and their employees who have contributed to increasing public procurement of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) products, as well as exemplary SME entrepreneurs.

This year’s awards covered a total of 43 honors across 3 categories, with 5 outstanding public institutions, 29 public institution contributors, and 9 exemplary SME entrepreneurs receiving recognition.

In the Outstanding Public Institutions category, the Presidential Citation was awarded to Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation and Korea Energy Agency, while the Prime Minister’s Citation went to the National Institute of Ecology, Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service, and Korea Transportation Safety Authority. These five institutions all met the five legally mandated procurement ratios for SME products and others, and significantly improved their SME product procurement performance compared to the previous year.

Notably, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation achieved an SME product procurement ratio of 94.5%, greatly exceeding the mandatory procurement target. Additionally, it recorded a 35.1% procurement ratio for technology development products and an 11.9% ratio for startup company products, earning recognition for actively supporting the entry of technology development and startup companies into the public procurement market.

In the Public Procurement Contributors category, Team Leader Kim Gang-sun from Wonju City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, received the Presidential Citation. Furthermore, three employees from public institutions who actively contributed to increasing SME product procurement were awarded the Prime Minister’s Citation, and 25 received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Citation.

In the Exemplary SME Entrepreneurs category, nine SME representatives who contributed to job creation by supplying excellent products to the public procurement market through efforts in technology development and quality management received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Citation.

Alongside the ceremony, an exhibition was held showcasing pilot purchase products for technology development and performance-certified products to support SMEs’ entry into the public procurement market, and one-on-one purchase consultations between institutions and companies were conducted.

In his congratulatory remarks, Deputy Minister Kim Seong-seop of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, “We ask for the active interest and participation of public institutions so that public procurement can serve as a growth platform for startup companies and innovative SMEs. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also continuously strive to improve and innovate the public procurement system so that it can become a catalyst for SME growth.”