South Korea’s government procurement agency said Friday it is ramping up support for local companies to accelerate their expansion into overseas markets and boost the nation’s exports overall.

Affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Public Procurement Service oversees and manages contracts of goods, services and construction to facilitate the procurement and supply of goods for the public sector.

PPS Administrator Kim Yoon-sang also renewed the agency’s commitment to boosting exports in his visit to RexGen, a Gyeonggi Province-based image processing company using artificial intelligence, Thursday.

Kim met with employees there to listen to their concerns over difficulties and regulatory hurdles regarding their export activities while closely examining their planned export quantity.

RexGen is recognized for its AI-based smart traffic control systems. Having won an export contract worth $16 million at the Korea Public Procurement Expo 2023 in April, the tech firm is actively foraying overseas beyond domestic markets.

During the meeting with the PPS chief, RexGen CEO Oh Young-joon suggested that the agency expand the scope of the pilot purchase system into international markets beyond domestic markets, which will facilitate the company's procurement of overseas validation.

Oh also highlighted the need to enhance initiatives such as inviting foreign buyers and organizing more export consultation meetings to aid overseas expansion.

"Corresponding national policies are being pursued on a pangovernmental level to boost exports and investment," Kim said, citing the government’s plan to revive the domestic economy in the second half of the year.

Kim added, “PPS will do its best to address the concerns of our domestic suppliers and actively pursue supportive measures to effectively aid their overseas expansion for domestic economic revival.”

By Song Jung-hyun and Lee Kwon-hyung

(junghyun792@heraldcorp.com) (kwonhl@heraldcorp.com)