No More Corruption in Procurement Administration

According to recent media reports, corruption in procurement administration has been significantly reduced in recent years due to an electronic procurement service, KONEPS. KONEPS has marked an epoch in procurement administration by increasing transparency and accordingly attracted attention from all over the world.

KONEPS, the largest online shopping mall for public organizations, has contributed in improving the image of procurement administration with its electronic procurement system, which enabled the entire procurement procedures (including bidding and awarding) to be processed via online network on real time bases. Since it was first introduced in 2002, KONEPS has drastically changed the quality of the procurement administration system by increasing its transparency and efficiency. Before its launch, annual reports on procurement corruption recorded more than 100 cases and Public Procurement Service of South Korea was ranked 40^th in Corruption Perception Index evaluation by Transparency International.

However, the transparency in procurement administration has remarkably improved from 2004 when the system had settled in and since then, there has not been a single disciplinary measures regarding procurement. Such epochal changes were brought by KONEPS’ function and it was possible as it eliminated a base source for face to face contacts between public officials and suppliers.

The Efficiency in procurement has also largely risen due to KONEPS. The number of contract cases processed per official has doubled and so far US$ 18 billion has been saved in transaction cost. There are 35,000 businesses and 150,000 public organizations registered on KONEPS and 100,000 cases are transacted online with average number of 140,000 visitors per day. It guarantees transparency through electronic bidding and saves time and transaction cost through more opportunities provided to small and medium sized and venture companies.

The Public Procurement Service’s KONEPS is not only supporting the marketing for small and medium and venture companies but also helping them in finding a new market overseas. This year it has received its first overseas orders and already exceeded its targeted amount of US$500,000. Within this year it will export to 20 countries in Southeast Asia and Middle East for over US$ 1 million.

PPS(Public Procurement Service) now plans to cooperate with international organizations such as the World Bank, to spread the use of e-procurement system and step forward as a leader in e-procurement. These changes were possible from the international recognition of KONEPS and also because of its easy access to good quality products with one-click. KONEPS indeed has developed into the world largest cyber market with its annual transaction estimated US$ 43 billion and recognized as the best e-procurement system based on the latest IT technologies.

Source: http://www.sarok.go.kr/neweng

Enquiry: Young Cha

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