Seoul, South Korea – South Korea's newly launched government procurement system, "Nara Jangter," encountered several technical issues shortly after its pilot launch on January 6th, causing temporary disruptions in service. However, the Procurement Service has been working diligently to address these problems and is now on track for a full-scale launch in early March.
The system, designed to streamline the government procurement process, experienced a two-hour outage on its first day due to a search function malfunction. While this caused some inconvenience to users, the Procurement Service quickly resolved the issue and took steps to minimize any negative impact on businesses. For instance, the deadline for several bids was extended to ensure that no companies were disadvantaged.
Additionally, the transition to a new authentication system and integration with external guarantee agencies led to delays in payment for some suppliers. However, the Procurement Service has been working to expedite these payments and ensure that all suppliers are paid promptly.
Despite these initial challenges, the new system has shown significant progress. As of January 13th, the platform had processed 7,885 bid announcements, 1,347 openings, and 1,464 successful bids, resulting in contracts worth over 1.3 trillion won. Moreover, payments totaling 2.18 trillion won had been disbursed for contracts and subcontracting.
"While we experienced a surge in inquiries and error reports following the pilot launch, many of these were related to simple matters such as user registration and convenient authentication," said Lee Hyung-sik, Director-General of the Fair Procurement Bureau. "Thanks to our proactive measures, the number of inquiries and errors has been steadily decreasing."
To ensure a smooth transition to the full-scale launch in March, the Procurement Service is working to address several remaining issues, including:
Simplifying the fingerprint authentication process for bidding
Enhancing security measures related to the sharing of digital certificates
Providing more personalized services
The agency has also expanded its call center capacity from 210 to 330 lines and increased the number of staff at its 11 regional offices to provide better support to users.
"We have been preparing for this launch since 2018, conducting three dress rehearsals and 65 nationwide training sessions," said Lee. "While we recognize that it is challenging to meet the diverse needs of 70,000 government agencies and 600,000 procurement businesses, we are committed to addressing any inquiries or issues promptly and ensuring a smooth transition."
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