The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises Seoul regional headquarters said on the 29th that it held a "meeting with small and medium-sized businesspeople invited by Seoul Public Procurement Service Director Kang Sin-myeon" at the Small and Medium Business DMC Tower.
The event was organized to discuss difficulties that small and midsize businesses in Seoul face in public procurement and to seek ways to improve the system. More than 30 people attended, including Public Procurement Service officials led by Seoul Director Kang Sin-myeon, Seoul Small and Medium Business Association President Park Jong-seok, and chairpersons of small and medium business cooperatives in Seoul.
The corporations proposed systemwide improvements in public procurement. Key points included reflecting in procurement contract unit prices the surge in raw material costs due to the Middle East situation, inspecting the status of public printed materials contracts at related institutions such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and expanding the use of the cooperative recommendation system for competitive products among small businesses.
They also called for easing item-specific specification limits under multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts and shortening the time to conclude contracts, as well as adjusting unit prices for ready-mixed concrete MAS contracts. The agenda included ending the practice of providing free joint filler (silica sand) for laying concrete blocks for sidewalks and roads, protecting domestic manufacturers related to military identification tag chains (dog tags), and expanding direct participation by small firms in military supply. The need to improve the Nara Market purchasing system was also raised.
Seoul Public Procurement Service Director Kang Sin-myeon said, "We will thoroughly review the difficulties facing small and midsize businesses and prepare reasonable improvement plans," and "We will actively reflect on-site opinions in procurement administration."