South Korea’s Public Procurement Service has finalized its plan to expand support this year for companies entering overseas public procurement markets, sharply increasing funding for key programs and rolling out new, performance-focused support measures.
Under the plan, the PPS will bolster the budget for its procurement-specialized overseas market entry voucher program from 880 million won in 2025 to 1.8 billion won in 2026 (from $606,000 to $1.24 million). The maximum support per company will increase from 30 million won to 40 million won, while the cap per service category will rise from 15 million won to 20 million won.
The agency will also expand funding for overseas pilot demonstrations of innovative products to 20 billion won next year, up from 14 billion won in 2025. The program is designed to help companies gain a track record overseas and offset costs incurred during pilot testing and subsequent export stages.
To strengthen early-stage export readiness, the PPS plans to introduce a new intensive support program for newly designated G-Pass companies. About 200 firms will receive customized packages covering capacity-building, marketing and dedicated export partnering services to help them establish export foundations more quickly.
The PPS will also link early export vouchers to training programs and a two-year strategic enterprise development track designed to cater to different companies depending on what stage of growth they are in. It says this will enable more continuous support as suppliers scale up their overseas operations.
In addition, the G-Pass designation and management system will be redesigned to place greater emphasis on export performance. Export capability, effort and outcomes will count more toward evaluations and redesignation reviews, while incentives will be adjusted to reward tangible results.
The agency said it would further enhance industry- and market-specific support by using existing cooperation channels with international organizations, including the United Nations and multilateral development banks, and by increasing collaboration with sector-specific institutions such as the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
To improve efficiency, the PPS plans to scale up export consultation events and overseas market intelligence services while streamlining overlapping support programs and reinforcing customized, on-the-ground assistance.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
