[CONTRIBUTION] KOPPEX 2023 to relieve slowing exports

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By Lee Sang-yun

196 trillion won ($146.7 billion). This is the size of the nation's entire public procurement market last year. What if we extend the stage to the world? If calculated on average across OECD countries, the global public procurement market is estimated to be around $12 trillion. It's a huge market that accounts for a staggering 13 percent of global GDP.

Innovative small and medium-sized venture companies that have been verified in the domestic procurement market are entering this global market one after another. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 held in the United States in January, 15 products from domestic procurement companies won the Innovation Awards. In February, about 300 related companies attended a briefing session on the government procurement market related to reconstruction projects in Ukraine, showing keen interest in making forays into overseas markets.

Lee Sang-yun, vice administrator of the Public Procurement Service

In a post-pandemic environment where the indoor mask mandate, as well as the global quarantine lockdown, has been lifted, Korea Public Procurement Expo (KOPPEX) 2023, the largest K-procurement fair ever, will take place at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, from April 26 to 28. This year's expo, which marks its 23rd anniversary, will draw 560 companies, up more than 10 percent from last year, to exhibit a variety of public procurement-related products, including innovative and excellent goods. Among them are products from companies that have won the CES Best Innovation Award.

To substantially help expand public markets for outstanding procurement firms, public purchase counseling sessions will be expanded in this year's expo so that in-depth consultations between companies and procuring organizations can be expedited. Also, marketing for public institutions will be strengthened through showcase-style new product presentations that will be offered by public relations experts.

KOPPEX 2023, where one can have first-hand experiences of products incorporating cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), will be a refreshing stimulus to public-sector officials who are concerned with how to provide high-quality administrative services.

The meaning of the KOPPEX 2023 can also be found in our support for overseas market exploration through export consultations and briefing sessions on the overseas procurement market. About 80 overseas buyers from 24 countries are invited to this year's export consultations to build a stepping stone for companies to go abroad. Even in 2022 when cross-border exchanges were not easy owing to COVID-19, export consultations resulted in contracts worth more than $4.66 million, and this year, when the pandemic has stabilized, an increase of more than 500 percent is targeted.

In addition, there will be briefing sessions on entering public procurement markets in various countries, including the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which is likely to experience high volatility in its procurement environment due to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and Turkey's State Hydraulic Works that has high demand for earthquake reconstruction and recovery.

The role of the KOPPEX is not limited to simply connecting companies with buyers at home and abroad. To enhance Korea's status as a leading country in public procurement, an international procurement workshop will be held to discuss the strategic utilization of public procurement in the presence of 70 procurement officials from 16 countries in the Middle East, Central and South America and Europe as well as international organizations such as OECD, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank.

Interest in and expectations for the strategic operation of public procurement are growing rapidly around the world. The electronic procurement system, a major means of strategic procurement, is in the limelight yet again. Preparing for the opening of the "next-generation Korea ON-line E-Procurement System (KONEPS)," a more advanced electronic procurement system using big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence, in May next year, Korea is already the world's leading e-procurement country.

Korea has already exported its e-procurement systems to nine countries, including Vietnam and Egypt, and is discussing advancing further to Latin American and African countries. The upcoming workshop will serve not only as a venue for constructive discussions by global procurement experts but also as a lever for the territorial expansion of the overseas procurement market through e-procurement.

In particular, to enhance familiarity and accessibility to public procurement to which the public feels somewhat distant, this year's expo prepared various events such as a public counseling service corner, a new product experience zone and social networking certification for photos, a move particularly aimed at arousing the interest of students and the broader populace.

Of course, 20 in-depth job training courses will be offered over three days for about 1,500 people ― the largest in scale ever ― to help procurement officials and companies gain more expertise in public procurement during the specialized public procurement fair.

The slogan of the KOPPEX 2023 is "Powerfully, Quickly K-procurement! Beyond Korea to the World." It contains the wishes of Korean procurement companies that are making a vigorous leap toward the global economy which is on the threshold of bouncing back after COVID-19. KOPPEX 2023 will surely serve as an opportunity to explore public procurement markets at home and abroad and a relief pitcher for slowing exports.

The writer is the vice administrator of the Public Procurement Service.