K-Innovative Products to Enter Central Asia with Overseas Demonstration Support
– Public Procurement Service Explores Export Opportunities and Conducts On-Site Inspections in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan
The Public Procurement Service (PPS) of Korea announced that it conducted on-site inspections and explored export support strategies for its overseas demonstration projects in three Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan—from May 19 to 23.
The Overseas Demonstration of Innovative Products program enables foreign public institutions to test Korean innovative products purchased by PPS. These institutions evaluate the products’ performance and quality through actual use.
Central Asia is considered a key region for strategic market entry, given its growing interest in digital healthcare, medical rehabilitation systems, smart transportation, road and logistics infrastructure.
On May 19–20, the Korean delegation visited key institutions in Kazakhstan, including the National Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, Almaty Ring Road Operations & Maintenance Corporation, and Astana Su Arnasy. They reviewed installations of Korean innovations such as robotic rehabilitation medical devices, road safety management systems, and deodorization equipment. Meetings were also held with local heads to discuss future collaboration and export support.
A special briefing was also hosted at the National Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, targeting the Kazakh Ministry of Health and national hospitals, where PPS introduced its overseas demonstration framework and sought to expand pilot usage and export of Korean innovative products.
On May 22, the delegation visited Tajikistan, holding talks with the Deputy Mayor of Dushanbe, the Chairman of the State Committee on Investment and State Property Management, and the Chief of Traffic Police. Discussions focused on smart traffic technologies, including AI-based illegal parking detection systems.
Dushanbe City is actively building a smart city network and has already introduced Korean traffic control innovations as part of this effort.
The visit concluded on May 23 in Kyrgyzstan, where meetings were held with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health to discuss expanding the use of Korean technology-based medical equipment and innovative products.
PPS Deputy Administrator Baek Seung-bo stated, “The overseas demonstration program provides a direct and effective export support channel—once products prove their performance in field use, they can lead to follow-up exports. We will continue to diversify demonstration countries and scale up the program to help Korean innovations expand globally.”
The program, initially launched in 2023 with a 12 billion KRW budget, has significantly grown due to its success in facilitating export contracts. It expanded to 70 billion KRW in 2023 and is expected to reach 140 billion KRW this year.
[Editor Miso]
