Extension of Special Application Period for Public Procurement Private Contracting Until Year-End Under Consideration

"Mobile Electric Vehicle Charging Project Demonstration in Jeju to Support Nationwide Expansion"

Jubong Park, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman.
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The temporary special exemption period for public procurement negotiated contracts, which is set to expire in June, is expected to be extended until the end of the year.

On the 22nd, Park Ju-bong, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice-ministerial level), held the 'Seoul Region S.O.S Talk Meeting' at Gasan Digital Complex in Seoul together with Lee Byung-heon, Presidential Office Secretary for Small and Medium Ventures, to listen to regulations and difficulties faced by small and medium enterprises.

S.O.S Talk is a meeting to resolve regulations and grievances of small and medium enterprises by region, and Seoul is the seventh visited region this year following Incheon, Chungcheong, and others.

At the meeting, to ensure prompt policy reflection, Ombudsman Park invited Secretary Lee to empathize with the difficulties of business owners and discuss solutions together.

Company O, which manufactures advertising signboards, lamented, "Since the end of last year, a temporary (6-month) exemption has been applied to relax the negotiated contract amount, bid and contract deposits, and payment deadlines in public procurement contracts, but many institutions are either unaware of this or respond passively even if they know, resulting in a lack of effectiveness."

In response, Ombudsman Park said, "We will extend the temporary special exemption period for negotiated contracts, which is scheduled to expire at the end of June this year, until the end of the year, and will consult with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to ensure that the government and public institutions actively utilize this to provide practical help to small and medium enterprises."

Company T, which develops electric vehicle chargers, raised the issue, saying, "To solve the problem of insufficient charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, we are planning a 'mobile charging service' that integrates information and communication technology into batteries. However, South Korea lacks safety certification standards for mobile chargers, and laws related to electric vehicle charging businesses only specify fixed chargers. Institutional establishment for mobile chargers is necessary for the development of new industries."

Ombudsman Park promised, "Currently, a demonstration project to establish safety certification standards for mobile chargers is underway, limited to Jeju Island. If the demonstration of Jeju Island's electric vehicle charging service regulatory free zone is successfully completed by the end of this year, we will work with the relevant ministries to ensure that the achievements of the special zone can be expanded nationwide to Seoul, Gyeonggi, and other areas."

In addition, attendees proposed various field difficulties including △ improvement of the Nara Market bidding system, △ extension of the support period for evaluation projects by users (medical institutions) of new domestic medical devices (from 2 years to 5 years), and △ relaxation of support conditions for youth digital job projects.

Secretary Lee said, "Today’s meeting was a valuable time to hear the voices of businesses directly," and added, "We will actively manage the opinions shared by business owners in cooperation with the Ombudsman to resolve them well." Ombudsman Park stated, "Even after the end of COVID-19, we will continue to consult with related ministries to ensure that support measures for small and medium enterprises are not discontinued."

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