Gyeonggi Province Turns a Blind Eye to Small and Medium Enterprise Products

Claims have been raised that Gyeonggi Province is stingy in purchasing small and medium enterprise (SME) products to revitalize the SME sector.

On the 24th, Rep. Jo Seon-mi of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council revealed analysis of data on "2005 public institution SME product purchase plans versus actual purchase results" released by the Small and Medium Business Administration. According to the data, Gyeonggi Regional Development Corporation ranked 119th among 120 national public institutions in SME product purchase rates.

According to the data, out of Gyeonggi Regional Development Corporation's total purchase results last year of 297.321 billion won, the share of SME products accounted for only 18.4% (54.777 billion won).

In contrast, SH Corporation (formerly Seoul Urban Development Corporation), which performs a similar role to Gyeonggi Regional Development Corporation, recorded the same ratio at 56.1%. The lowest-ranking institution was identified as the Government Employees Pension Service, which purchased 16.3% of its products from SMEs.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province itself maintained an SME product purchase rate of 89.0%, ranking 13th among 16 metropolitan cities and provinces, falling behind Gwangju (68.0%), South Jeolla Province (83.8%), and Busan (88.9%), revealing its position in the lower ranks.

On the other hand, the institution with the highest SME product purchase rate was Incheon at 99.4%, while Seoul also recorded a high SME product purchase rate at 92.1%.

Rep. Jo stated, "Gyeonggi Province's efforts to nurture SMEs through purchasing SME products are far too insufficient," and added, "Each institution should be actively encouraged to increase SME product purchases."