“Venture firms and startups are in a difficult situation to enter the public procurement market because their products are new to the market so they have little opportunity to enter the market through bidding, and also they (often) have no sales records (to better convince public offices),” said Chung Yang-ho, an administrator of the Public Procurement Service in an interview with The Korea Herald.

“So, we opened Venture Nara, an extended version of the existing Korea ON-line E-Procurement System or KONEPS, to offer a test bed and to secure a new market for innovative products and services.”


The agency has also been seeking ways to open a new market for future-oriented products such as drones and cloud services. Since the early 2000s, European countries have established systems to encourage the early market entry of innovative products as part of efforts to create a better environment for startups. The South Korean procurement agency has also been setting the groundwork for such systems suitable for the nation’s industrial structure and budget system.

The procurement agency has worked on ways to efficiently manage public offices’ purchase of products and services from the private sector. But Chung believes that the agency could play a bigger role in generating new jobs and stimulating the growth of the nation’s economy, by supporting the market entry of venture firms.

“Eventually, I think my job and the agency’s role are to equally support every industrial sector through our massive purchasing power in the public market,” he said.

“By creating a transparent and fair procurement market, we will focus on driving the nation’s economy and industries.“

Chung is a renowned technocrat who built his career at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for more than 30 years. He majored in economics at Seoul National University, and joined the ministry in 1985. He has served various posts within the ministry, including deputy minister, before he was named the chief of the public procurement agency in February.

By Cho Chung-un and Lee Kwon-hyung (christory@heraldcorp.com) (kwonhl@heraldcorp.com)