Investment and procurement
South Korea
Completing construction on time is not enough: the project must be well chosen and procurement open to scrutiny.
Should this infrastructure project be built?
Starting with the announcement of a construction project can push demand, alternatives and operating costs into the background.
PIMAC, the Korea Development Institute's (KDI) centre for evaluating public and private investments, conducts preliminary assessments and reassessments of major investments, alongside functions involving partnerships and tax benefits. Its work supports resource allocation decisions. [1]
Define the need and alternatives
Examine feasibility and cost
Use the assessment before the budget decision
What the evidence shows
KDI's documentation describes the purpose of preliminary assessment and the possibility of examining the scale, cost and alternatives of projects exempted from it. This is evidence of institutional design, not proof that every decision will be correct. [2]
Costs and delivery
The function involves technical analysis and reviews, not just software. The sources consulted do not provide a calculation of national savings that could be transferred to Brazil. [1]
Limits of the comparison
Demand estimates can be wrong, and exemptions can weaken the process. A favourable assessment does not remove the need to monitor implementation, maintenance and actual outcomes.
Can procurement be tracked all the way to payment?
Scattered information on registration, bidding, contracts and delivery makes both supplier participation and oversight harder.
KONEPS, Korea's electronic public procurement system, integrates stages from requests and tendering through contracts, inspection and payment. The official portal describes a single supplier registration and connections with external systems. [3]
Publish the subject of the procurement and the criteria
Record bidding and the contract
Connect inspection and payment
What the evidence shows
The source demonstrates the functions covered by the system. It does not by itself demonstrate an absence of corruption, sufficient competition or the quality of every delivery. [3]
Costs and delivery
The documentation consulted does not consolidate the full cost. An adaptation must provide for integration, training, supplier support, security and verification of what was delivered. [3]
Limits of the comparison
Digitising a poor specification does not improve it. The lowest price alone does not measure quality; analysis needs to consider competition, contract amendments, performance and access for new suppliers.
OpenGov3's interpretation
What it can teach Brazil
The two functions complement one another: evaluate before contracting and verify afterwards. Adaptation should map existing capacities and systems before proposing another agency or portal. The relevant connection runs from need to choice, contract, delivery and outcome.
What to monitor when adapting it
- Alternatives compared before contracting
- Difference between forecast and actual demand
- Supplier participation and concentration
- Life-cycle cost, quality and maintenance
These are criteria for analysis, not commitments already made or estimated outcomes for Brazil. A well-documented practice is not, by itself, causal proof of an entire country's success.
Sources consulted
Consulted on 10/21/2026. Each result retains its observed period; institutional descriptions and impact evaluations have different scopes.
- KDI: PIMAC functions (opens in a new tab)
Evaluation of investments, partnerships and tax benefits. This is not a causal estimate of national savings.
- KDI: Preliminary Feasibility Study (opens in a new tab)
Purpose of prior analysis, alternatives and the treatment of projects exempt from evaluation.
- Public Procurement Service: KONEPS functions (opens in a new tab)
Official portal: integrated registration, tendering, contracting, inspection and payment.