PINGAR DEBUTS CHINESE SEARCH PLATFORM AT SHANGHAI EXPO

Major step for NZ firm gives access to the market of a billion people

Shanghai, 22 July 2010 – Pingar, the New Zealand-tech company that has developed  the next generation ‘intelligent’ search engine, today in Shanghai unveiled its Chinese-language version of the Pingar search platform.

Pingar’s newest application is now available as a beta release for pilot testing with selected clients in Hong Kong and mainland China. The traditional and simplified Chinese versions of Pingar were developed in association with New Zealand universities and Hong Kong-based business partners.

Today’s launch at the Shanghai Expo marks a significant milestone in Pingar's Hong Kong and mainland China market entry strategy.

Says Pingar’s CEO and co-founder Peter Wren-Hilton, “Over the past year we’ve begun discussions with key clients for the Chinese Pingar application. We’re delighted to have them join us here today. China provides Pingar with unique opportunities to bring innovative New Zealand technology to the market. With both the NZ – China Free Trade Agreement and the very active support of NZTE and MFAT in both Hong Kong and China, the opportunities for Pingar here are enormous.”

Pingar’s Chinese operations are based out of the Hong Kong Science and Innovation Park, where Pingar has partnered with Compose Systems, a major developer of print publishing solutions, to build its Asian operations.

Tom Sit, Managing Director of Compose Systems says, “Working together, Pingar and Compose can target major publishers in the region and offer them something truly unique. We see that Pingar’s unique aggregation platform gives our clients a competitive advantage in an information critical age and an age when monetising content is a hot topic.”

In short, Pingar changes the face of mainstream enterprise and internet search. Pingar’s solution goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model. As the company likes to say: “it takes the browsing out of browsing.”

Pingar is visiting the Shanghai Expo with a delegation of Bay of Plenty business representatives and will this evening demonstrate the new application to a number of invited dignitaries, academics and publishing figures from NZ, Hong Kong and China at a formal dinner inside the NZ pavilion.

Following today’s launch, Pingar’s executive team will visit Yantai in Shandon province in China to discuss joint research projects and further developments with the city’s universities.