On May 27, the Public Procurement Service (PPS) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines. This agreement aims to expand the Korean procurement system and electronic procurement systems modeled after KONEPS (Korea ON-line E-Procurement System) throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Since 2015, PPS and ADB have been leading the way in global procurement advancement through the Asia Pacific Public e-Procurement Network, exchanging advanced public procurement practices.

The new MOU focuses on enhancing procurement capabilities in Asia-Pacific countries by sharing the technology and competitiveness of the Korea’s procurement systems, embodied into government-designated Innovative Products and Excellent Government Procurement Products, and facilitating market access for Korean companies in the region.

Under the MOU, both organizations will effectively use a contribution of 540 million KRW provided by PPS to ADB, starting this year. This fund, part of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program, is intended to improve the transparency and fairness of public procurement in the Asia-Pacific region.

With this regard, a workshop on sharing Korean procurement systems and a program to strengthen electronic procurement capabilities will be run to actively promote diverse merits of Korea’s procurement systems to ADB members.

Additionally, ADB will support outstanding Korean suppliers in entering ADB and Asia-Pacific markets by providing procurement information and participating in export briefings and consultations held in Korea.

Furthermore, PPS and ADB will collaborate to ensure the Asia-Pacific region plays a key role in the global trend towards strategic procurement and the widespread adoption of electronic procurement.

This collaboration is expected to not only advance public procurement in Asia-Pacific countries by sharing and expanding Korea’s procurement systems but also to reinforce Korea's leadership in global public procurement.

Following the signing, PPS Administrator Lim Ki Keun and ADB Vice President Bruce Gosper held a bilateral meeting to strengthen ongoing cooperation, ensuring that Korea’s government-designated innovative and excellent suppliers can contribute to the ADB procurement market and regional government services.

Administrator Lim stated, "We have been solidifying cooperation with ADB and regional countries, spreading Korea's excellent procurement infrastructure, and built on this partnership, we will broaden the base for domestic companies to succeed in overseas procurement markets."