Public Procurement Service Expands Export Scope of 'K-Procurement' Based on System Excellence

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) is expanding the export scope of ‘K-Procurement’ based on the excellence of the Korean electronic procurement system (hereinafter referred to as Nara Jangteo).

Next-Generation Nara Market Construction Schedule. Provided by Public Procurement Service

◆National Integrated Electronic Procurement System ‘Nara Jangteo’=Nara Jangteo is a national integrated electronic procurement system established by the PPS in 2002, enabling the integrated processing of public procurement tasks such as goods, services, and service contracts online.

This online-centered system has contributed to enhancing transparency and fairness in the public procurement market by allowing stakeholders to conduct procurement tasks such as bidding, contract signing, deposit collection, and payment remotely without meeting in person.

Currently, the ‘Next-Generation Nara Jangteo’ is under development. The next-generation system is being built with a focus on fully digitalizing and enabling contactless procurement processes using the latest intelligent information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, transitioning to a cloud platform, and introducing a new authentication system, all based on an information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.

The PPS expects that the next-generation Nara Jangteo will become a milestone for the digital electronic procurement market transformation worldwide.

It also envisions playing a catalytic role in Korea’s economic growth and establishing itself as a global business platform.

The next-generation Nara Jangteo is scheduled to launch in 2024.

The Egyptian e-Procurement Training Delegation visited the Public Procurement Service on the 17th to observe the operational status of the Korean-style electronic procurement system, Nara Market. Photo by Public Procurement Service

◆Nara Jangteo’s Overseas Expansion ‘Green Light’=Recently, the number of countries seeking to introduce the Nara Jangteo system domestically has been increasing. This is a result of global recognition of the system’s excellence. Countries that have adopted or are in the process of adopting Nara Jangteo include Egypt, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Tunisia, Cameroon, Rwanda, Jordan, and Iraq.

Among them, Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding in December last year to support the introduction of an electronic procurement system, agreeing to cooperate on advancing Egypt’s local electronic procurement. Based on this agreement, Egypt plans to invest $7.9 million by 2026 to introduce Nara Jangteo, aiming to modernize its procurement administration.

On the 17th, a delegation from Egypt visited the PPS and underwent a pre-introduction training course for the Nara Jangteo system. The delegation consisted of 12 officials from Egypt’s Ministry of Finance and the Government Services Agency. During the training, the delegation directly experienced the operation status of Nara Jangteo and explored ways to utilize it when introduced in their country.

In addition to Egypt, Nara Jangteo has attracted high interest from countries in Latin America and Africa, suggesting further potential for overseas expansion.

Kim Eung-geol, Director of Planning and Coordination at the PPS, stated, “Nara Jangteo is the representative system of ‘K-Procurement,’ and its excellence is increasingly recognized and attracting interest worldwide. The PPS is also expanding international cooperation to promote additional exports of Nara Jangteo.”

◆Strengthening the Establishment of an International Electronic Procurement Network=The PPS is also focusing its efforts on strengthening the establishment of an international electronic procurement network based on the excellence of Nara Jangteo.

In December last year, Director General Lee Jong-wook of the PPS visited the Philippines and Tunisia sequentially, promoting the excellence of Nara Jangteo locally and discussing directions for development in the public procurement sector between countries.

At that time, Director General Lee delivered a keynote speech at the 8th Asia-Pacific Electronic Procurement Network General Assembly held in Manila, Philippines.

In his keynote, he emphasized the need to strengthen strategic procurement policies so that public purchasing power is actively utilized for national policy objectives, introduced the next-generation Nara Jangteo project underway in Korea to the assembly participants, and presented a blueprint for the future of electronic procurement.

He also actively promoted the excellence of Nara Jangteo by introducing Tunisia’s successful experience in adopting Nara Jangteo and the next-generation system project at electronic procurement seminars attended by international organizations such as the African Development Bank (AFDB), the World Bank (WB), and participants from African countries including Cameroon and Rwanda.

Director General Lee said, “Interest in electronic procurement has increased not only in Asia but also in Africa, and cases of actual local adoption of electronic procurement are on the rise. The PPS will promote the excellence of Nara Jangteo worldwide while strengthening the international electronic procurement cooperation system to activate the overseas expansion of Nara Jangteo.”

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