Public Home Shopping to Significantly Raise Public Procurement Targets for SMEs

Significant Increase from 50% to 80%... 60% Execution in the First Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Public Home Shopping is significantly increasing the public procurement ratio to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a public institution, Public Home Shopping announced on the 19th that it has decided to raise the public procurement target ratio for SME products from the existing 50% to 80% in order to overcome the economic difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It was also decided that 60% of the revised increased execution amount will be spent in the first half of the year.

The public procurement target ratio system for SME products is a policy that requires public institutions to compulsorily purchase a certain percentage of their total annual procurement amount from SME products, technology development products, women-owned business products, and products from enterprises employing people with disabilities. This decision by Public Home Shopping is to actively participate in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' request to increase purchases to support SMEs suffering from domestic demand slumps and sharp sales declines due to COVID-19. Public Home Shopping plans to spend 31.2 billion KRW this year on purchasing products from SMEs and others, a 60% increase compared to 19.5 billion KRW last year.

Public Home Shopping is also carrying out various activities to support SMEs struggling due to COVID-19. On the 27th of last month, it aired a special broadcast titled 'Let's Buy Value' to help eco-friendly agricultural products and flower farms, and on the 31st, it organized a 24-hour special broadcast called 'Cheer Up Daegu Gyeongbuk' featuring only products produced by companies located in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions. On the 20th, in celebration of Disability Day, a 5-hour special broadcast will be held to promote the excellence of products from enterprises employing people with disabilities and to encourage consumption. A Public Home Shopping official stated, "This is a very difficult time for the economy nationwide. As a public institution, Public Home Shopping will continue to fulfill its public role by actively participating in government policies for overcoming national crises and revitalizing the economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.