"Competition System Among SMEs Contributes to SME Market Expansion and Growth"

The 3rd SME Public Procurement Policy Research Meeting Held

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 4th that it held the '3rd Public Procurement Policy Research Meeting for SMEs.' The research meeting was launched in August last year, mainly involving academia and research institutes, to identify tasks that need improvement in public procurement policies, which have been traditionally focused on budget reduction and management, and to develop improvement measures through expert discussions.

At this meeting held in the Vision Room of the Korea Federation of SMEs, the current status of the representative support policy for SMEs' entry into the public procurement market, the 'Competition System Among SMEs,' was reviewed, and discussions were held on the necessity and role of the system.

Professor Kim Min-chang of Gangneung-Wonju National University, in his presentation titled 'Current Status and Improvement Measures of the Competition System Among SMEs,' stated that procurement policies supporting SMEs are implemented not only in Korea but also in advanced countries such as the United States, Japan, and Australia. He explained that the Competition System Among SMEs fundamentally induces competition and plays a role in supporting SMEs to innovate.

Following this, Choi Soo-jung, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Small and Medium Venture Business, in her presentation titled 'Inappropriateness of Approaching the Competition System Among SMEs as a Regulation,' emphasized that the economic influence of public procurement should be utilized to support sustainable and inclusive growth. She stated that the Competition System Among SMEs sufficiently achieves market-oriented goals, regulatory goals, and socio-economic goals, and since the policy objectives and benefits outweigh the costs caused by participation restrictions, it is inappropriate to perceive it as a regulation.

Kim Eun-ha, a research fellow at the Korea Cooperative Research Institute for SMEs, also mentioned that the role of the Competition System Among SMEs is to enable SMEs to steadily enter the public procurement market. She noted that SMEs with a higher proportion of competitive products supplied relative to sales have higher sales growth rates than other SMEs, clearly demonstrating the support effect of the system. Other experts agreed that promoting industrial development through competition among SMEs is the ultimate goal, significantly contributing to maintaining the SME manufacturing base, and that the designation of competitive products among SMEs should be expanded to more faithfully serve as a stepping stone for public procurement entry.

Yang Chan-hoe, Head of the Innovation Growth Headquarters at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, “The Competition System Among SMEs is a system designed to provide SMEs with minimal opportunities to enter the procurement market, thereby promoting the growth of SMEs and related industrial development. It plays a very important role in maintaining Korea’s SME manufacturing base.” He added, “The government should once again reflect on the purpose and role of the system and actively designate competitive products among SMEs.”

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