Labor ministry says 33 social economy firms join procurement talks

The labor ministry said Tuesday that 33 social economy enterprises joined a public procurement consultation in Seoul, connecting their products and services with demand from public institutions.

The Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency hosted the event at Seoul's aT Center to help social economy enterprises enter the public procurement market and promote preferential purchases by public institutions. Before the event, it surveyed public institutions on the goods they wanted and identified enterprises capable of supplying them.

Procurement officials from 31 public institutions, including Korea Electric Power Corp., the Korea Tourism Organization and Incheon International Airport Corp., attended. They met one-on-one with firms offering office equipment, gifts, promotional-video production and disinfection services to discuss institutional purchasing needs. The agency also set up an exhibition area for participating firms' products and a booth promoting its program to find and recommend social enterprises that supply goods sought by public institutions. In cooperation with the Seoul Regional Public Procurement Service, it provided consulting on information needed from entry into the procurement market through growth.

"I hope this will become a practical opportunity to take a leap forward for social economy enterprises that struggle to enter the public procurement market," Jeong Seung-guk, president of the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, said. "We will continue to hold procurement consultations nationwide to promote public institutions' preferential purchases of social economy enterprises and revitalize local economies," he added.