Press Kit

Tel Aviv, 2026, A new venture called BuildExchange is being developed to open Israel's construction execution market to broader domestic and international competition and create a new way for developers, project owners and institutional stakeholders to procure construction, development and infrastructure execution. Its central objective is clear: To significantly reduce construction and execution costs, particularly finishing costs, while significantly shortening project delivery times. BuildExchange is not another contractor directory and is not a manpower-import platform. It is designed to create a marketplace where projects and work packages can be opened to competition among complete construction companies, both Israeli and international. The principle is simple: "The developer does not buy workers. The developer buys execution." Instead of importing workers, bring the construction company Under the BuildExchange model, an international contractor may propose mobilizing as an organized, self-contained execution operation. For a large project, the practical concept is that the company itself can effectively "board the ship." That operation may include: Management, project managers, engineers, surveyors, site managers, safety professionals, skilled trades, workers, equipment operators, tools, formwork, scaffolding, heavy equipment, vehicles, temporary facilities, logistics, worker accommodation, kitchens, dining facilities, cooks and operational support. For smaller projects, the same concept can be scaled down into project-specific teams suited to the required scope and duration. The objective is not to import individual workers and leave the developer to build an execution organization around them. The objective is to import execution capability. The workforce belongs to the executing company This is a fundamental distinction from a manpower-supply model. The workers are employees of the executing construction company. Where the executing company is foreign, the workers are employees of that foreign company, which employs, manages and pays them and mobilizes them as part of its own execution organization, subject to applicable law and regulatory arrangements. The model is designed around a contractual relationship with a construction execution company, rather than turning the project developer into the employer of that company's workforce. "Not a manpower company. A construction company." The opportunity goes beyond labor, it extends to finishing materials and building systems One of BuildExchange's most important potential cost-reduction mechanisms is the ability to expose not only labor and execution services to international competition, but also the supply chain for construction materials, systems and finishes. A foreign construction company competing for a project may, where appropriate, include materials and systems sourced from its home market or international supply chain. These may include: Elevators, aluminum systems, windows, curtain walls, glazing, HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing, fire-protection systems, flooring, cladding, sanitary ware, faucets, doors, kitchens, cabinets, architectural millwork, stone and quartz surfaces, lighting systems and other building components. A proposal may therefore be: Build Supply + Install or even: Manufacture + Ship + Install + Complete A contractor may manufacture or source components abroad, ship them to Israel, mobilize its own installation teams and deliver the complete package. This capability is expected to be one of the key mechanisms through which BuildExchange can support a significant reduction in construction and execution costs generally, and finishing costs in particular. Not just residential construction, all construction, development and infrastructure BuildExchange is intended for all types of construction, development and infrastructure projects. These include: Residential buildings, private homes, residential developments, offices, retail, hotels, public buildings, educational institutions, hospitals, industrial plants, factories, logistics centers, warehouses, data centers, energy facilities, earthworks, site development, municipal infrastructure, water and sewerage systems, roads, bridges, tunnels and rail projects. The principle remains the same: "If the scope can be defined, it can be opened to competition." The entire project does not have to be outsourced BuildExchange is not limited to full turnkey projects. A developer may open only one specific work package to competition: Structure, envelope, MEP, building systems, aluminum, elevators, finishes, millwork, site development, infrastructure, Supply Only, Supply & Install or Completion After Structure. For example, if the structural frame of a residential project has already been completed, the remaining scope can be opened separately to international competition: Envelope, elevators, aluminum, HVAC, electrical works, plumbing, flooring, cladding, sanitary ware, faucets, doors, kitchens, cabinets and architectural millwork. This allows international competition to enter even after a project is already under construction. Project Rescue, bringing stalled projects back on track BuildExchange is also being designed for stalled or distressed construction projects. A project in which the contractor has failed, the construction company has been replaced, financing has been disrupted, work has stopped or urgent completion is required can become a Project Rescue Opportunity. Project owners, banks, lenders, receivers, trustees and other properly authorized parties may use the marketplace to identify companies capable of mobilizing into an existing project and completing the remaining works. The objective: genuine competition on cost and time BuildExchange is intended to allow project owners to compare companies not only by headline price, but by their actual execution capability: Price, schedule, mobilization, management resources, workforce, equipment, relevant experience, supply chain, imported materials, guarantees, warranties and the scope included in the proposal. Instead of competition stopping at the borders of the domestic market, the question becomes: "Who can execute this project better, faster and at a lower cost?" The larger the pool of qualified companies competing for a project, the greater the potential competitive pressure on cost, construction time and productivity. A private and secure marketplace, not a public classifieds board BuildExchange is being built as a private, controlled global construction and infrastructure procurement exchange. Participants operate through registered organizations. Projects, drawings, bills of quantities, documents, bids and pricing are not automatically made public. One bidder is not intended to see another bidder's proposal. Access is controlled according to authorization and tender stage. What happens when the right contractor is not yet registered? BuildExchange is not designed to wait passively for contractors to arrive. When a new opportunity enters the marketplace, the system is intended to identify registered companies whose capabilities match the project according to execution scope, scale, geography, experience, mobilization capability, Supply & Install capability, factories, equipment and supply chain. If the marketplace does not contain enough qualified bidders, the system can identify the gap and support Targeted Acquisition of additional companies internationally. In other words: "Real project demand creates the need, and that demand can be used to bring the most relevant companies to the table." "Not More Manpower. Execution Capability." "BuildExchange is not about bringing more workers into Israel. It is about opening the construction execution market itself to competition and achieving a significant reduction in construction and execution costs generally, and finishing costs in particular. Instead of importing individual hands, we can bring an entire construction company, from management and engineers to the worker with the hard hat and hammer, from equipment to worker accommodation and dining facilities. And where appropriate, that same company can also bring the finishing materials and systems, from elevators and aluminum to flooring, faucets, doors, cabinets and architectural millwork. The developer does not buy workers. The developer buys execution." "If we can create genuine competition among construction companies in Israel and around the world, we can address two fundamental problems in the industry at the same time: execution cost and construction duration." Haim Etkin, Founder, BuildExchange Haim Etkin is a real estate and property appraiser, entrepreneur and developer of professional AI-based systems, with more than 40 years of experience across real estate, construction, property valuation, building damage and rehabilitation, and author of the book "Real Estate Bubble." BuildExchange was founded in 2026 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. BuildExchange One Project. Global Competition. Media & General Contact: Haim Etkin Founder, BuildExchange haimetkin@gmail.com WhatsApp: +972-52-3728828

September 15, 2026, Israel, For years, Israel has addressed the labor shortage in the construction industry primarily by increasing quotas for foreign workers. A new venture called BUILDEXCHANGE proposes to change the question. Instead of asking only how many more workers need to be brought to Israel, why not increase the number of execution companies that can compete to build the entire project? BUILDEXCHANGE is a private procurement and tendering exchange connecting developers, contractors, landowners and project owners with construction and execution companies from Israel and around the world. Through the exchange, project owners can present projects for execution, attach plans, specifications, bills of quantities and relevant documents, and allow suitable companies to compete for them in a closed and controlled environment. The goal is to shift the center of gravity from competition over labor supply to competition over the total execution price, construction duration, productivity, technology, quality of execution and accountability for the outcome. Ayelet Shaked Identified the Problem. BUILDEXCHANGE Proposes an Additional Question At TheMarker and Bank Jerusalem’s real estate conference held in September 2026, Ayelet Shaked, Chairperson of Kardan Real Estate, stated that construction labor costs in Israel are exceptionally high. Shaked further argued that a young couple purchasing an apartment effectively pays hundreds of thousands of shekels as a result of the labor cost structure in the industry. From BUILDEXCHANGE’s perspective, this raises a fundamental question: If a worker who arrives in Israel becomes particularly expensive after entering the local construction system, is the problem only the worker, or also the system within which we employ him? In a Knesset discussion in June 2026, the Vice President of the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel argued that the cost of employing foreign workers adds approximately 130,000 shekels to the cost of an average apartment under the price-for-target-buyer framework, and that the levies to the Population and Immigration Authority amount, according to him, to approximately 24,000 shekels per worker per year. BUILDEXCHANGE proposes examining an additional solution: Instead of importing only the worker, allow also the company that employs him, manages him and knows how to build with him to compete for the entire project. Not a Tender for Workers. A Tender for the Outcome In the common model, the foreign worker is integrated into a local system that includes manpower agencies, levies, housing, transportation, insurance, subcontractors, suppliers, an executing contractor and a developer. Each link has a role, but each link also has a cost. BUILDEXCHANGE seeks to enable an additional competitive path: Project → Tender → Execution companies compete → Comprehensive execution proposal → Execution → Delivery. An execution company can offer, subject to tender conditions and Israeli law, a broad scope including management, engineering, site managers, surveyors, workers, equipment, logistics, procurement, construction materials, systems and finishes. In suitable projects it can also offer logistical solutions and housing for its workers. Instead of arguing only about the price of a laborer, one can get an answer to a much more important question: How much does it cost to execute the entire project? "Israel doesn’t need to import only laborers. It needs to import competition." Haim Atkin, initiator of BUILDEXCHANGE: "For years we have been trying to solve a systemic problem with more and more manpower. But if you take a worker who comes from an efficient construction system and insert him into a local execution system that is expensive and fragmented, you can end up with an expensive worker. I propose changing the point of view. Don’t import only the laborer. Allow also the company that knows how to employ him, manage him and build with him to compete for the project. Israel doesn’t need to import only laborers. It needs to import competition, knowledge, technology, productivity and execution capability." Don’t Just Increase Demand. Increase Competition on the Supply Side At the same conference, Shaked also proposed encouraging the return of investors to the housing market. BUILDEXCHANGE proposes looking at another side of the equation. Atkin: "An additional investor can bring more money into the housing market. He doesn’t bring another execution company to the market, doesn’t improve productivity and doesn’t shorten construction duration. Instead of settling for increasing the amount of money chasing apartments, one can increase the number of companies competing to build them." Global Competition for Israeli Projects BUILDEXCHANGE is not intended only for the residential sector. The exchange was built to serve a wide range of projects, including: Dense residential construction and housing, private homes, offices, retail, employment buildings, logistics and logistics centers, data centers, development works, infrastructure and additional construction projects. Israeli companies are also invited to compete in the exchange. The goal is not to replace the Israeli construction industry. The goal is to expand competition within it. A good and efficient Israeli company should be able to compete against a good and efficient foreign company on the same specification and the same project. Ultimately, the project owner should be able to compare proposals on the basis of real parameters: price, time, quality, experience, financial capacity, execution method and contracting terms. Not a Theoretical Idea: Foreign Construction Companies Already Operate in Israel Israel already recognizes a pathway for foreign execution companies. The Ministry of Construction and Housing maintains a registry of foreign construction companies operating in Israel, tracks the projects they execute and allows companies included in the registry to request worker quotas for their projects. In other words, the regulatory infrastructure for the activity of foreign execution companies already exists. BUILDEXCHANGE seeks to add an additional component to the picture: A competitive market that brings the project together with the executor. Not only to select companies and bring them into the country, but also to allow them to see projects, compete for them and present the Israeli developer with an execution proposal. The Rental Market May Also Benefit The model may have an additional benefit not directly related to construction costs. Foreign workers who need housing in Israel are sometimes housed in apartments rented in the free market. When many additional workers compete for the same housing inventory alongside families, young couples and students, additional rental demand is created. In a model where an execution company arrives with a full logistical envelope and provides its workers with dedicated, legal and proper housing solutions, the need for it to rent apartments from the inventory intended for local households can be reduced. BUILDEXCHANGE does not claim that such a move alone will lower rental prices. The claim is more modest and precise: If execution teams can be housed in a dedicated housing arrangement, there is no need to turn them into additional demand in the regular rental market. Less Fragmentation May Also Reduce Friction Points for Protection Rackets The issue of collecting protection money in the construction industry also requires looking at the execution structure. A site that relies on a long chain of subcontractors, suppliers, transportation, equipment, manpower and local elements creates a large number of friction points and dependencies. A large and integrated execution company, which manages a larger portion of the execution chain itself, may reduce some of these friction points. This does not mean that a foreign company is immune to criminality, extortion or threats. But there is a structural difference between a small contractor or a fragmented setup dependent on dozens of parties and a large international construction company with its own management, procurement systems, logistics, controls and organizational capability. BUILDEXCHANGE does not claim to solve the protection racket problem. It can, however, contribute to a less fragmented and less dependent execution model. Construction Materials and Finishes Can Also Enter Competition Competition does not have to end at the labor cost. An international execution company can, subject to standards, regulation and tender requirements, also offer procurement solutions from its own supply chain. Aluminum, doors, cabinets, sanitary ware, systems, finishing materials and additional components can be included as part of the execution proposal. This transforms the competition from competition over a single component to competition over the total production cost of the building. What If a Foreign Company Can Build Faster? Construction cost is not only the sum of invoices. Time also has a price. A long construction duration means longer financing, higher overheads, capital tied up for a longer period, greater exposure to cost changes and delay in the date when the asset can be delivered or activated. Therefore BUILDEXCHANGE is designed to enable comparison that does not end at the bottom line of the price proposal. The exchange allows examining also schedules, execution method, experience, resources and delivery capability. The Question the Israeli Market Needs to Start Asking Atkin: "I want to take that same project, that same bill of quantities and that same specification and present them to an Israeli company, a Chinese company, an Indian company, a European company or any other suitable company. And then ask: How much do you charge? How long will it take you? What exactly is included? And what warranty are you willing to provide? Only when we get several answers to the same question will we know what the execution price created in competition is." From Importing Labor to Importing Competition BUILDEXCHANGE seeks to promote a conceptual shift: Not to move from Israelis to foreigners. Not to replace an Israeli contractor with a Chinese contractor. But to move from a limited market to a market where more companies can compete for the same project. From importing manpower alone to importing execution capability. From selling workers to purchasing an outcome. From limited local competition to broader competition on price, time, quality and productivity. Don’t import only workers. Import competition. Import Competition. Not Just Labor. --- BUILDEXCHANGE Global Construction & Infrastructure Procurement Marketplace One Project. Global Competition. The exchange: https://buildexchange.base44.app/ For details, demonstrations, execution companies, developers and collaborations: Haim Atkin Initiator of BUILDEXCHANGE 052-3728828 haimetkin@gmail.com

September 28, 2026, Tel Aviv, BuildExchange, the procurement and execution exchange for construction and infrastructure projects, announces the addition of a Construction Professional Services layer around its core. The core does not change. BuildExchange remains a procurement and execution exchange: developers and project owners publish projects, and construction companies from Israel and around the world compete for them, including supply and install, partial work packages and project rescue situations. What is added is a supporting professional layer around that same project. Every construction project depends on a broad professional system: architecture and planning, civil engineering, structural engineering, electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems, safety, accessibility, fire safety, surveying, quantity surveying, BIM, geotechnical and soil, traffic, acoustics, environmental, sustainability and energy, testing laboratories, inspection institutes and quality control. Until now, much of that system remained outside the picture. BuildExchange connects it to the same project. The project remains at the centre The principle is clear: the project remains at the centre. The professional services layer supports the core; it does not replace it. BuildExchange is not becoming a freelancer marketplace, and it is not becoming a generic professional-services marketplace. This is a second, project-connected professional layer around the procurement and execution core. Engineers, project managers, supervisors, surveyors, safety and accessibility consultants, MEP professionals, testing laboratories, inspection institutes and infrastructure consultants become part of the project's assembly. Particularly relevant for foreign construction companies The new layer is especially important for foreign construction companies entering activity in Israel. A foreign company that identifies an opportunity in Israel typically needs not only the project, but also a local professional system to support execution: engineering, supervision, project management, safety, accessibility, MEP, surveying, testing and inspection, planning, regulatory knowledge and infrastructure. BuildExchange allows the foreign company to identify the required local services, assemble a local professional support ecosystem and proceed toward execution. This is not a separate marketplace. It is a local professional support capability around international execution. How it works Professional services are connected to real projects. Matching is performed by discipline, specialization, capability, project type, geographic coverage, licenses, professional certifications, experience, language, availability and verification status. BuildExchange does not publish unverified figures and does not display metrics that are not based on actual system records. The core remains the core BuildExchange continues to focus on construction procurement and execution. Developers, contractors, local and international construction companies and suppliers continue to operate within the private, controlled Exchange. The professional services layer is added around the project, so that the professional system required for real execution is accessible to that project. "A real project needs not only a construction company, but an entire professional system around it. We connect that system to the same project, and especially for foreign construction companies that need a local support ecosystem. The project remains at the centre, and the professional layer supports it." Haim Etkin, Founder, BuildExchange About BuildExchange BuildExchange is a private, controlled procurement and execution exchange for construction and infrastructure projects, connecting developers and project owners with construction companies from Israel and around the world. BuildExchange was founded in 2026 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. BuildExchange One Project. Global Competition. Media & General Contact: Haim Etkin Founder, BuildExchange haimetkin@gmail.com WhatsApp: +972-52-3728828