On May 17, KOTRA held the 'UK Public Procurement Support Centre Opening Ceremony' at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London. At the ceremony, a total of 40 people attended from EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), international organizations and government agencies such as the UK Ministry of Justice, BAA (British Airports Authority), the Port Authority, London Olympics, the Korean Embassy, Samsung Corporation and Korea subsidiaries based in London.
Cho Hwan-Eik, CEO of KOTRA addressed at the opening by saying "Since public sector costs emerged as a topic, the interest in innovation of the existing procurement system is increasing. British companies have an advantage in the service industry, Korean companies have strengths in manufacturing. Therefore, cooperation between the two countries will contribute to efficiency of public procurement in the UK. "
KOTRA has been supporting Korea's overseas business by establishing the UN Procurement Market Support Center and US Government Procurement Market Support Center in New York and Washington in May 2009. The UK Public Procurement Support Centre, is the third overseas procurement center by KOTRA. The center is primarily responsible for supporting the EBRD procurement projects with the British government. The British government and the EBRD's procurement market size is 173 billion pounds and 12.1 billion Euros, respectively. Also, they will take care of analysis and strategy for entering the public European market in the case Korea-EU FTA contracts conclude. Which means Korean companies could have more chances to enter the European government procurement market.
Meanwhile, CEO Cho signed a MOU agreement with EBRD and Hutchison Ports UK for boosting their cooperation. By act of MOU, EBRD and the Hutchison Port will provide procurement projects and items to Korean companies and KOTRA's task is to unearth the suitable company for the project.
EBRD, headquartered in London, England, established to support the economic development in Russia, CIS and Eastern European countries in 1991. It has been funding various development projects and consulting services in 29 countries such as, Poland, Hungary, Georgia and Russia. EBRD has taken a large role in procurement markets, accounting for more than 3,400 projects which are collectively worth 12.1 billion Euros.
Hutchison Port, the investor and operator of UK's largest container company, Felixtowe, is planning to install three LED Towers using the LED lighting from Korean companies. Robert Page, vice president of the company attended the 'Buy Korea' fair held by KOTRA this year in March and visited the local ports and companies in Korea. He also expressed interest in purchasing Korean lighting as well as port equipment.
CEO Cho said "Korean companies suffered entering the European procurement market, due to the lack of information and know-how. Hopefully, the British public procurement Support Center will compensate for these problems and help Korean companies to enter the European procurement market."
Source: KOTRA