Box Hill provides online information management services to construction companies, lowering their on-site risks, and helping them save time and money. Aconex also provides training and around-the-clock customer support.

Both companies count the Venetian Macao as one of their major clients in the region.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Aconex was founded in 2000 with an idea, said Will Turbet, the company's marketing communications director.

'The premise was that the internet could effectively be harnessed to manage vast amounts of information from large-scale projects - namely from the construction industry, which generates thousands of pages of documents each day,' he said.

'It is an immense honour that [Venetian Macao has] chosen us as its training partner.'

Aconex went international in 2003 by opening an office in Britain. The following year it expanded further into Hong Kong and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

'The period after 2005 was one of rapid overseas growth. We established 36 worldwide offices,' said Mr Turbet. 'Having people in different countries has helped our sales and expansion plans, and helped widen our network in the long term.'

Mr Turbet said Aconex deserved to win as it brought innovative solutions to the construction industry and helped companies operate more efficiently.

'And we are growing by leaps and bounds on the mainland,' he said.

He added that the company had invested time and resources north of the border to educate people in managing their documents online.

He said Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian Macao, was satisfied with their service, and this was testament to the company's ability to manage large projects.

Box Hill's international executive director Noel Lyons said: 'The company's biggest achievement over the past five years has been the way it has worked with its partners in mainland China and in Macau, and built solid relationships in a relatively short time. Our products and training programmes are [culturally] sensitive to the local needs in the communities in which they operate.'

He said the company had successfully met client needs on the mainland. The company was committed to the Greater China region, and it had 1,000 students across the country (most of them in Shanghai).

The company's biggest challenge was training 2,000 casino employees at the Venetian Macao in the three months leading up to its opening in August.

Box Hill offers ongoing training programmes for the Venetian Macao's casino, hotel and restaurant staff, and offers training to non-gaming entities in the food, beverage and hospitality sectors.

As further proof of the company's desire to be a stakeholder in the region, it will establish a legal business entity in Macau to operate its hospitality, hotel and convention business programmes in the former Portuguese enclave.

Both Mr Lyons and Mr Turbet are happy with their respective companies winning the accolade.

Mr Turbet said: 'For a number of reasons this is great - because we do a lot of work with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and have always maintained good relations with them, plus it gives tremendously beneficial exposure to our business and helps to raise our profile in Hong Kong and China.'

Mr Lyons said both awards were a great honour, and he believed it was proof that Box Hill was highly regarded as a provider of educational training, and that the company had a chance to benchmark itself against its competitors. 'It can only help boost customer confidence in us,' he said.

'Customers tell us that we get stuff done and don't take on more business just to keep cash coming in the door. We are building long-term client and student relationships, not just chasing short-term growth.'