Local Business Activation Promised but Bidding Participation Blocked... Controversy Over Gyeongnam Office of Education Construction Ordinance

Provincial Office of Education: "Option Items Should Prioritize Local Businesses"

Gyeongnam Office of Education.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] The ordinance enacted and implemented last year by the Gyeongnam Office of Education to promote the revitalization of the local construction industry is drawing complaints that it is hindering local companies contrary to its intention.

The ordinance was established and is being enforced to regulate necessary matters for the revitalization of the local construction industry in construction projects carried out by the provincial Office of Education, aiming to foster the local construction industry and contribute to the development of the local economy.

It is intended to secure fairness and reliability in the procurement procedures for construction materials and to enhance the integrity of facility construction projects.

Recently, local telecommunications construction facility companies have pointed out that the system, which aims to expand the selection criteria for high-quality products and increase the participation rate of local companies, rather prevents local companies from participating in bids.

A representative from Company A said, “Although the ordinance has a good intention, it is a unilateral guideline that does not consider the characteristics of each construction type, does not meet the purpose of the ordinance, and its execution, which is not suited to reality, ultimately results in the exclusion of local companies from bidding.”

According to the company, the provincial Office of Education recently announced three virtual bids to select suppliers for telecommunications government-supplied materials.

The company representative claimed, “The virtual bidding is conducted by designating five companies by the Office of Education’s Facilities Division, but only one company from the Gyeongnam region was selected.”

Among the three announcements for broadcasting equipment at Mulgeum 2 High School, Sasong 1 Elementary School, and Sasong 1 Middle School, 14 out of 15 designated companies were from Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Busan.

He added, “Since the in-school broadcasting equipment system is composed of a combination of excellent procurement products and multiple supplier items, bulk purchasing is not necessary.”

The Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a system that selects multiple suppliers to induce healthy price and quality competition while increasing the choice options for the demand institutions.

It is suitable for the era of e-commerce brought about by the development of information and communication technology and the spread of the internet, and is already widely used in countries such as the United States and Canada.

A representative from Company B said, “There is only one Gyeongnam company registered as an excellent procurement product, so the bidding itself is limited,” and added, “Since the system is built by combining MAS products, limiting bids to excellent procurement products is meaningless.”

“The virtual bidding under the Gyeongnam Office of Education’s facility construction government-supplied material procurement guidelines prevents local companies from participating in local facility construction projects, thereby not giving priority to local companies but fundamentally blocking even fair participation opportunities,” he added.

The representative of Company C said, “The current system of the provincial Office of Education, which fundamentally blocks local companies from bidding, must be improved,” and added, “It is ridiculous that local companies cannot participate in local construction bids and can only watch, and it sometimes appears as if certain companies are being favored.”

He also said, “Excluding local companies not only goes against the revitalization of the local economy but also inevitably causes aftercare issues due to the nature of broadcasting equipment, which requires promptness.”

Local companies in Gyeongnam voiced a unified opinion that “the unilateral guidelines and ordinances that do not consider the characteristics of each construction type and go against the background purpose of revitalizing the local economy through local company participation under the promotion of the local construction industry must be promptly changed to allow local companies to participate.”

A provincial Office of Education official explained, “Due to the nature of schools conducting exams such as the college entrance exam and listening tests, compatibility between equipment must be considered, so excellent procurement products must be used,” and added, “When we entrusted the main equipment and related equipment to excellent procurement companies, local companies were excluded.”

He continued, “In the future, according to the facility construction government-supplied material procurement guidelines, the main equipment will be purchased as excellent procurement products, but 40% of optional items such as speakers and audio mixers will be designed and used focusing on local companies.”

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