UNOPS urges Korean SMBs to join the UN market

[newsprime] "You would be amazed if you see the large portion of tenders going out that are actually below $50k. And that is speaking directly to small and medium sized companies. It is really important for us to tell that this is the case because some seem to think that it is only the big multinationals that have the opportunity to do business with the UN, but that is not true."

Grete Faremo on Oct. 23, 2019 at STS&P.

Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Grete Faremo, whom I met at the "STS&P 2019 on Smart Technology for Sustainable Development & Procurement," stressed that she hopes to see Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participate in the UN market.

UNOPS, a UN organization still unfamiliar to the public, is the fourth-largest organization within the UN. It procures 20 trillion won worth of goods annually to the United Nations and its affiliated organizations. Currently, it supports more than 170 suppliers and 1,000 projects every year. A total of 14,725 companies around the world are registered on the UN Global Marketplace as of August 2019, participating in various bids for UN projects.

But only 1.7 percent of the registered companies are South Korean firms, which is 244. Though the Korean Ministry Of Foreign Affairs and Public Procurement Service announced to work together on Aug. 8 to establish a "one-stop UN procurement system" and provide information on entering the UN procurement market, the market participation rate of Korean companies in the UN are still far lower than that of other countries.

Recognizing this situation, Faremo visited South Korea from October 23 to 25 and attended STS&P 2019 held in Suwon. She looked around the exhibition booths to look for outstanding domestic companies in areas of education, health care, smart cities, and food and agriculture.

This year is the third event hosted by STS&P, along with UNOPS, to help domestic companies to partner with procurement officials and other governments.

Faremo, after holding several high-level positions in the Norwegian government, has moved to the United Nations since 2014 and served as the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNOPS. She is known for her various achievements at UNOPS including benchmarking outstanding companies in the private sector, maintaining a solid financial base, and minimizing bureaucracy hurdles. In her free time, she sings and has even topped the Norwegian music chart.

The following is an excerpt from the interview with Faremo.

-What was your favorite memory in Korea?

▲It is very hard to pick one event that makes Korea special, but UNOPS has been working in the country for more than ten years and I really hope we can enjoy the good partnership in the years to come. We of course have been working with KOICA and the government, and when children, women, and vulnerable groups are involved, I think we do well.

-Why do you think Korean companies' participation with UNOPS is so low?

▲It is obviously low, and it would be hard for me to speculate in why, but certainly UNOPS would like to see more Korean companies engaged. That is why we've been engaging here for the last three days, and we also work with the government, ensuring we do what we can to encourage more companies to engage.

-In August, the Korean Ministry Of Foreign Affairs and Public Procurement Service began to work together to establish a UN procurement system to provide information for Korean companies on entering the UN procurement market. Have you noticed an increased interests in UNOPS among Korean companies?

▲I am not aware of the initiative itself, but I think, from what I hear, the inspiration is to engage more companies. I also hear that this year's conference is probably even better than earlier years, so I think we're going in the right direction. And what we can do to ensure we do what we can is important for us, but we also need to see increased engagement on the companies side. Maybe there is, for instance, language challenges that we need to overcome. Maybe there are other things we can do to encourage other companies to join.

-Any products or companies that particularly grasped your interest at STS&P2019?

▲We're always looking for sustainable solutions where we can both enhance effectiveness as well as ensure cost efficiency, and when we see some of those breakthrough technologies that I know Korea is famous for, I saw a couple downstairs that I'm really curious about. But it would not be right, now, to name any of them. This is again where I see Korea has a lot to contribute. Also now, when we talk about greener solutions, we need to ensure we foster innovation that creates jobs. I'm sure we'll have more to talk about together.

-Since UNOPS allows a fully transparent competition, SMBs that are not well known but have capable technology seem to have the advantage. Are there actually many SMBs involved compared to larger companies?

▲You would be amazed if you see the large portion of tenders going out that are actually below $50k. And that is speaking directly to small and medium sized companies. It is really important for us to tell that this is the case because some seem to think that it is only the big multinationals that have the opportunity to do business with the UN, but that is not true. We also try in UNOPS to ensure we reach women entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs and do the right match making. Entrepreneurs in one country can have bigger opportunities by matching with somebody in other geography. Even if it seems a bit too bureaucratic to go through the process, once you're in, you are a part of a very big ecosystem and you will also be notified if tenders go out that are relevant to your business. So we try to do as much advocacy as possible for the global market place as well as the businesses we do at UNOPS because our turnaround is annually 2 billion dollars and half of that is linked to procurement. Opportunities exist and they range a number of factors.

-What drove the partnership with UNOPS with STS&P, and what are UNOPS plans for the future in Korea?

▲This corporation is to enhance innovation and engagement with the private sector because I think private sector is the key to drive innovation. I think it is really important that we help build knowledge about each other so that we in our work can benefit from what Korean businesses have developed. I will have bilateral talks tomorrow (Oct. 24) with the members of the government and meet with the members of the parliament as well to ensure what we have done here is well linked up with national priorities for development corporations.