Nissho Iwai has agreed to make equity investment in HansB2B.com Co., Ltd. of Korea, which operates the Korean-made plant equipment purchasing market site "HansB2B.com", with the agreement scheduled to be signed by Nissho Iwai Korea Corporation on March 6, 2001.

In compliance with the request to be one of the shareholders in light of its worldwide marketing capabilities and expertise for industrial plants and machinery & equipment, Nissho Iwai will invest 750,000 dollars by taking new shares HansB2B.com Co., LTD. offered to third parties.

In the prevailing business climate with increasingly severe price competition in the sales of industrial plants, Nissho Iwai will introduce to Japanese and European engineering firms this Korean purchasing site "HansB2B.com" that offers wide-ranging arrays of Korean-made machinery & equipment at competitive prices resulting from lower operation costs made possible by using IT. The hope is that by doing so, Nissho Iwai will be able to develop new business opportunities.

Most of the online matching marketplaces that are emerging globally provide nothing more than just general matching services. This compares with what Mr. Hoon S. Han as the owner of HansB2B.com Co., Ltd. established in February 2000 has to offer. He is an expert on plant equipment purchasing as warranted by his previous career with Korea's top-notch engineering firm. And the rest of the Korean site's employees make a well-balanced combination of purchasing professionals and computer system engineers. Which makes it possible to combine meticulous follow-up services with such support routines as delivery management and quality inspection, and system operation.

To have its services diversified and complete, the online site is planning on providing purchaser credits and loans & financings for plant equipment purchased and also on offering products made by non-Korean suppliers. The site now has more than 200 Korean suppliers enlisted.