Nippon Paint Bangladesh, a concern of Nippon Paint Holdings of Japan, has drawn up a strategy to be a leader in the growing paints and coatings industry in Bangladesh, said a top official.  

The company is seeking to climb to the second position within the next three years whereas its ultimate target is to become the market leader, said Yaw Seng Heng, group managing director of Nippon Paint Holdings Malaysia.

"The goals are part of our new market strategy and planning."

Heng shared the strategy, future plans and thoughts during an interview with The Daily Star in Dhaka recently.

Last month, he was in the capital to inaugurate the company's newly built warehouse and conducted sharing and training sessions for its employees.

"Now we are looking at how we can go faster and move forward because we are targeting the No.2 position in this market in three years' time."

"We have an aggressive plan to achieve it. We are very aggressive to expand in the market."

A national of Malaysia, Heng has been working at Nippon Paint for 38 years. He leads the company's operations in the southeast Asian nation.

Nippon Paint is the leading paint manufacturer in Asia and is the fourth-largest globally.

"We are currently the top player in Japan, Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. We want to be the top player in Bangladesh as well," he said.

Nippon set out for its expansion in South Asia with India in 2005 and Pakistan in 2006. It entered Bangladesh in 2011 and began commercial production in 2014.

Its successes over the years have brought the company to other Asian countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates.

The company and its subsidiaries have a presence in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Russia, Norway, Slovenia, Lithuania, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, and Turkey.

Yaw Seng Heng

"Nippon Paint Bangladesh is set to be at the forefront of innovation and colour accessibility in Bangladesh," Heng said.

He said it is continuously working to bring an innovative and diverse suite of coating solutions for roofs to floors and everything in between.

With the coatings manufacturing plant at Manikganj, Nippon Paint promises to deliver the best quality products to customers.

"Nippon Paint produces the best quality paint coatings for automotive, industrial and decorative sectors," Heng said.

He terms Bangladesh as a bright and potential market for the paints and coatings industry, saying the industry is deeply related to the vast size of the population.

On the back of growing urbanisation and per capita income, Bangladesh's paints industry has continued to expand, with multinational corporations dominating the Tk 4,500-crore paints market.

"Bangladesh has a bright future. The painting and coating industry has a lot of prospects," Heng said.

He, however, adds that per capita consumption is not increasing in the way that they are expecting.

"But the economy is progressing and the living standard of the people is also improving, which are good signs for the industry. We think the industry will grow here further."

Heng said the group supports Bangladesh's subsidiary with high-end technology, equipment, raw materials, and formulation for its advancement.

He said over the years, Nippon Paint has perfected its products by means of breakthrough technologies, with an emphasis on innovation and eco-friendliness.

"We are driven by the philosophy of enhancing life through innovations to consistently deliver paint solutions that not only serve your needs but also protect the world we live in. Apart from a range of interior, exterior, and enamel finishes, we have many speciality products that showcase our technological prowess."

The company has its own manufacturing plant in Manikganj and is now expanding the area of the factory from five acres to nine acres with a view to facilitating future growth.

The company runs its business across the country through more than 2,000 dealers and has the third-largest network of colour-creation machines.

It has eight distribution centres with each in Dhaka, Cumilla, Sylhet, Barishal, Chattogram, Khulna, Bogura and Mymensingh.

Heng said the company has opened a new warehouse in Manikganj.

"This new warehouse will help us better serve our customers and allow us to expand our distribution network to reach more customers."

The senior executive also talks about companies' role in protecting the environment.

"It is our duty to protect our environment. So, with Nippon Paint's lead and mercury-free paints, we do our best to protect the Earth."

Nippon Paint is working towards launching more green products to cater to future needs and address global warming.

According to Heng, users can choose to protect their surroundings with a wide range of innovative coatings like Weatherbond Solareflect, a premium exterior paint that reduces the interior temperature up to five degrees Celsius.

It is going to launch Spot-less Plus, a premium water-based interior paint specially formulated to protect surfaces from stains and bacteria. Once rolled out, this will be the first antiviral paint in Bangladesh.

Nippon Paint is also working and bringing new products such as auto refinish and industrial paint to help business partners to generate more revenues.

"The group has a wide range of products and we have a plan to expand to leverage on them," he said.