Jeonnam Province to Purchase 2.6 Trillion Won Worth of Local Small and Medium Enterprise Products

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 21st that it purchased 2 trillion 6.367 billion KRW worth of local small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) products in the first half of this year under the ‘Priority Purchase Disclosure System for Local SME Products.’

The ‘Priority Purchase Disclosure System for Local SME Products’ has been promoted by Jeonnam Province since 2014 to expand sales channels for local SMEs and revitalize the regional economy. It is a system that discloses the purchase performance of public institutions such as the provincial government, city and county governments, and affiliated organizations on their respective websites in the first and second halves of the year.

This year, 18 additional institutions, including public institutions in innovation cities and regional banks, were added, bringing the total number of institutions disclosing purchase performance to 65.

By institution, among the total purchase amount of 2.6 trillion KRW in the first half, the existing 47 participating institutions purchased 2.0505 trillion KRW, and the innovation city public institutions and regional banks participating from this year purchased 586.2 billion KRW.

The purchase target amount for this year is a total of 4.0203 trillion KRW, achieving 65.6% in the first half, marking a notable accomplishment.

The province actively utilized the regional restriction bidding system for construction, goods purchase, and service execution to expand sales channels for local SMEs that suffered difficulties due to COVID-19 this year.

In particular, for construction projects exceeding 10 billion KRW where regional restriction bidding is not applicable, it was analyzed that the use of joint contracts allowing local companies to participate up to 49% was a key factor leading to the achievement.

Additionally, the province’s continuous inspections and encouragement of participation to raise interest among innovation city public institutions and regional banks were also evaluated as factors influencing the achievement of the target.

The province plans to prepare alternatives focusing on institutions with poor performance due to disrupted business operations caused by the spread of COVID-19 in the first half and will continuously manage to ensure the target amount is achieved by the end of the year.

An Sanghyun, Director of the Economic Energy Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “In the situation where the domestic and international economy is sluggish due to COVID-19, the role of public institutions is important in expanding sales channels for SMEs. Along with this, we will strive for the management stability of SMEs through various supports such as entry into internet open markets and home shopping sales.”

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