Tech blog

INVESTORS with memories of the dotcom crash may shudder, but a local attempt at a technology-heavy secondary stock exchange will start trading this year, under the ambitious name of the Australian Pacific Technology Exchange (APTEX).

The new board is a joint venture betwixt the National Stock Exchange - formerly the Newcastle Stock Exchange - and Enterprise Pacific, a non-profit company established as part of the Pacific Technology Corridor concern Plan.

Its creators are boldly predicting that the new exchange would compare to resembling exchanges established overseas, including New York’s technology focused Nasdaq and Britain’s AIM.

"Promotion of Australian technology, so that it’s not lost overseas, is critical for the country’s future," Enterprise Pacific presiding officer Geoff Mullins said.

APTEX plans to list about 20 companies at launch and is promoting plastic coating and packaging group Armatex as one company lined up to list along with "six or seven" others.

Armatex has the backing of retail king Gerry Harvey.

Mr Mullins said that the Pacific Technology Corridor plan aimed to create 50,000 new jobs in northern Sydney’s technology precinct by 2020.

Maxine McKew, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care, got in on the act by endorsing the custom in her maiden speech to parliament and attended its launch ceremony yesterday.

Ms McKew is the local part for the federal seat of Bennelong that covers constituent of the technology precinct APTEX aims to promote.

"APTEX is an example of what is needed to attract capital to promote Australian innovation and technology. The 21st century role of government is to support nation building and Australians’ relative advantage in technology and APTEX is making a welcome contribution to this objective," Ms McKew said. Still, secondary exchanges have a patchy history in Australia.

The broadest try until not long ago was the Perth Second Board in the 1980s which topped out with about 40 companies, multitude backed by notorious Perth banker Laurie "Last Resort" Connell who was a key player in WA Inc. In 2001, Howard government junior finance minister Joe Hockey handed $400,000 to the start-up Bendigo Stock interchange. BSX is now run by the NSX and has a handful of one’s own and small businesses listings - including Capilano Honey - as well as dozens of community projects.

BSX’s original major shareholders included Bendigo Bank Group, ComputerShare Ltd and Small Cap Holdings Pty Ltd.

As well as operating the BSX, the NSX has 110 listed securities with a market value of more than $1 billion. It likewise manages a taxi licence place of traffic in Melbourne valued at $1.5 billion as well as water securities. NSX’s own share price on the ASX has fallen from a high of 96c in April 2006 to close at 25c yesterday, up 1c for the day and 7c on its all-time low last month. Caveat emptor.