Nissho Iwai Corp. and NTT-ME Information Xing Inc. (NTT-X), a Web site management company affiliated with NTT Corp., said Friday they will form a joint company by the end of this month to offer comprehensive electronic commerce.
Starting in June, the new company, eBis Trade Inc., will open Web sites for various industry sectors, such as food, textiles, construction materials and chemicals, through which buyers and sellers can negotiate business deals.
The number of such Web sites is targeted to reach 100 in three years; 30,000 companies are expected to participate.
Annual turnover is projected at 3 trillion yen.
The new company will be capitalized at 400 million yen. Trading house Nissho Iwai will contribute 66 percent of the capital, while the remainder will be put up by NTT-X.
Nissho Iwai and NTT-X plan to expand eBis Trade's capital to 1.5 billion yen in two years by inviting other investors.
Under the agreement, Nissho Iwai will provide knowhow on intermediary transactions, while NTT-X will design and build an online system for the new e-commerce market.
The latest initiative comes on the heels of accelerating moves by domestic trading houses to form sector-specific e-commerce markets as part of efforts to bring their mainstay intermediary trade operations online.