Small Enterprise and Market Service Receives Presidential Citation in Public Institution Category at Public Procurement Promotion Conference

Seoul Gwanak District Facilities Management Corporation Receives Prime Minister’s Citation

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on November 26 that it held the 2025 Public Procurement Promotion Conference at Grand Walkerhill Seoul in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, and awarded outstanding public institutions and individuals.

The Public Procurement Promotion Conference, now in its 25th year since its inception in 2001, is an event that recognizes and encourages outstanding public institutions, their employees, and exemplary small and medium-sized business owners who have contributed to increasing public procurement of SME products.

This year, a total of 40 awards were presented across three categories: four awards for outstanding public institutions, 28 awards for distinguished public sector employees, and eight awards for exemplary SME representatives.

In the outstanding public institution category, the Presidential Citation was awarded to the Small Enterprise and Market Service. The Prime Minister’s Citation was awarded to Namyangju Urban Corporation, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, and Seoul Gwanak District Facilities Management Corporation. These four institutions were recognized for their efforts to promote public procurement, having far exceeded the five legally mandated procurement ratios for SME products and other categories.

In particular, the Small Enterprise and Market Service, which received the Presidential Citation, achieved an SME product procurement ratio of 88.7%, significantly surpassing the mandatory target. Seoul Gwanak District Facilities Management Corporation, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, and Namyangju Urban Corporation, which received the Prime Minister’s Citation, recorded SME procurement ratios of 85.4%, 84.3%, and 96.9% respectively, and were recognized for their active support in helping domestic SMEs enter the public procurement market.

In the distinguished public sector employee category, Park Jinhoe, Director at the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement, received the Presidential Citation. In addition, other individuals who contributed to increasing the procurement of SME products received two Prime Minister’s Citations and 25 Minister of SMEs and Startups Citations. Furthermore, in the exemplary SME representative category, eight SME CEOs who supplied excellent products to the public procurement market and contributed to job creation received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Citation.

Park Yongsoon, Director General for SME Policy, said, "I would like to express my gratitude to the many public institutions that have dedicated themselves to promoting public procurement of SME products. I ask for continued interest and participation from public institutions so that this can become a stepping stone for the growth of innovative SMEs. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also continue to improve and innovate the public procurement system to ensure it serves as a catalyst for SME innovation and growth."

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