The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Lee Duk-Hoon, “Korea Eximbank”) announced that it held a “Workshop to Support the Entry of SMEs and Medium-Large Companies into the EDCF* Project Market and the International Procurement Market” at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business headquarters on May 29.
* The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) was established by the Korean government in 1987 to promote economic exchanges with the developing world and to assist developing countries in achieving industrialization and economic stability through the provision of long-term, low-interest credit. Korea Eximbank currently manages the fund as its trustee. As of the end of 2013, EDCF has supported 310 projects in 54 countries with KRW 10.1 trillion.
The workshop, attended by 130 delegates from some 80 companies, was arranged in order to provide practical training on how to prepare bidding documents, introduce the assistance programs offered by each of the host institutions, and share their contract-winning know-how with Korean SMEs and medium-large companies looking for opportunities in the international procurement market.
Participants found particularly helpful a presentation by Director Seo Jung-hwa of the EDCF Operations Services & Evaluations Department on the nuts and bolts of international procurement projects, giving detailed explanation on the EDCF feasibility study, consulting, and supplier bidding process.
The workshop also featured a presentation by former Resident Representative of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Timor-Leste Hamm Meeja (currently visiting professor at Graduate School of International Studies of Kyunghee Universitty) on how to win ADB project bids.
Recently, there are a growing number of cases in which Korean SMEs and medium-large firms are participating in EDCF projects or joining the international procurement markets of multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the ADB.
Accordingly, Korea Eximbank has been holding the “Workshop to Support the Entry of SMEs and Medium-Large Companies into the EDCF* Project Market and the International Procurement Market” every year since 2012.
The international procurement market, funded by international development organizations, is fully open to their member countries, and offers double benefits of gaining steady long-term profits and access to developing countries' markets.
Due to this very reason, small construction firms in Korea suffering from the recession in domestic construction market are turning to the international procurement market where major international development agencies such as the ADB* and WB place their project orders.
The size of the ADB procurement market reaches USD 40 billion over the last five years. Korean companies received orders amounting to USD 2.4 billion from the ADB through participating in its procurement market.
A Korea Eximbank official explained,“The participation in EDCF-funded projects is the most effective way for Korean companies to enter the international procurement market, not only because it helps them meet the track record qualifications demanded by international development agencies, but also because the bidding process is essentially the same as in projects led by international development agencies."
