Ottawa, February 17, 1997: RES International Inc. has been selected by Corporation Hiérapolis Inc. as the partner for electronic commerce on the NET.

Hierapolis is the company established to develop a substantial information highway project in West Quebec. Five communities, comprising approximately 300,000 people, are being assisted by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Science and Technology of Quebec (MICST) in establishing a regional information highway corridor. Advanced equipment and an ATM network for the project are already in place at the Museum of Civilization. RES Inc. is opening a branch for electronic commerce in the region.

The specialized NET/WEB software of RES Inc. includes RES-Reach (TM) for unrestricted access to databases through the NET, BAZAR Purchaser (c) for public sector purchasing, and BAZAR Cybermall (c) for regional virtual shopping centres. RES Inc. and ShowBase Media Inc. are teaming to integrate BAZAR with ShowBase Shopper. The solution allows on-line shoppers to browse ShowBase-created storefronts in a BAZAR virtual shopping mall. The combined products were chosen by Hierapolis as the best solution for distributing community information and enabling consumers to shop with vendors in the region, while having NET-based links to other regions. The new wave in electronic commerce is regional cybermalls, which present to the consumer in cyberspace the same goods and services as in a physical shopping centre.

RES Inc.'s partnership with Hierapolis involves the creation of a Cybermall, with BAZAR Purchaser for municipal purchasing to follow. There are about 9,000 businesses in the region, and the local governments have a purchasing volume of about $ 130 M./yr. RES Inc. brings a major financial institution to the table for handling payments, and has an agreement with CyberCash Inc. of Reston, VA, for secure electronic payment traffic. Other regional information highways are likely to adopt BAZAR for their electronic commerce on the NET.

RES Inc. is traded on the Canadian Dealing Network (CDN) in Toronto (Symbol RESZ).

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