Macrobuild.com Corp, a joint venture between Warp Cybertech Ltd and Golden Apple Group Ltd, launched an e-commerce portal – Macrobuild.com – for the building and construction industry in Hong Kong on Monday.
Alex Ing, executive director of Macrobuild.com, plans to use an initial investment of HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) to develop the portal in association with major industry groups and companies in the architectural, construction, engineering and building materials fields.
Macrobuild.com expects to capture 10 to 20 percent of transactions in building and construction materials.
The company plans to build other versions of Macrobuild.com through joint ventures with companies in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, China and the US. Ing said that the company plans to list on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) Board by end-2000.
According to company officials, the portal will contain information on industry practices, statutory codes and regulations.
“With Macrobuild.com, we have created a desktop reference library that offers quick and accurate access to information so that practitioners can do their jobs more efficiently,” said Edward Shen, executive director of Macrobuild.com Corp.
Ing said that the company plans to launch phase two of the portal with value-added e-commerce function in June. The value-added services will include online quotations, insurance e-procurement, building material online catalogs, online tendering, advertising subscription and online recruitment service.
Ing added that the company earns revenue from four channels: membership fees, advertising, online transaction fees and online catalog management fees.