By Kim Da-ye
Staff reporter
Hyundai Motor was selected to provide the United Nations with mid-size buses to be used for its missions in conflict-affected regions.
The Korean carmaker said Tuesday it will supply the international organization with 420 buses after signing a contract worth $1.5 million over the next five years. The mid-size buses will bear the U.N. emblem and be sent to regions of conflict and disaster zones, where the organization conduct missions.
Hyundai boasted of being the first Korean manufacturer to win a vehicle contract with the U.N. Procurement Division with Japanese Toyota and Nissan as well as European carmakers previously having a virtual monopoly on the contracts.
“We will make our offers wider covering sedans and sport utility vehicles,” said the company’s spokesperson.
The automaker also said that it enlisted the help of the Korean government agencies including the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Public Procurement Service and Korea’s U.N. representatives based in New York.
The company stated in a press release that KOTRA’s U.N. Procurement Market Support Center first learned of the bid in May 2009 and encouraged Hyundai to participate. Further, the agency closely advised the company in filing an application and monitored the bidding process as well as competitors.
The market for the U.N. procurement is growing fast, according to Hyundai, as the organization is increasingly expanding its global missions.
The size of commodities purchase for the entire U.N. grew to about $3.5 billion in 2009.
Korea contributed $44 million to the U.N. annual budget in 2007, making it the 11th largest financial contributor.
Before the Hyundai contract, the value of the contracts won by Korean firms, however, was tallied in 2009 at $15.9 million ― only 0.46 percent of the U.N.’s total procurement spending.