As the focus of Asian Paints on Bangladesh is extremely high, there has been a strong commitment for further investments in future by the multinational company.
“In about 3-4 years time, we would need a second plant as the current one won’t be able to support the growing demand for our brands,” said General Manager of Asian Paints Ltd Bangladesh Aroop Chatterjee while addressing a seminar titled “Foreign
Investment in Bangladesh: Opportunities and Prospects” held yesterday in the city.
Asian Paints started its operation in Bangladesh in 2002 with local partner, Confidence Group and it is the company’s largest green field venture outside India.
In the last 11 years, Asian Paints emerged as the second biggest company in the paint market with around 20% market share, which counts a sell of 17,000 tonnes finished products, said Aroop.
The total paint market is around Tk15,000 crore in Bangladesh where Berger is leading the market with about 50% market share.
Asian Paints has a team of over 500 direct and indirect employees and sells to over 1000 direct customers and being applied by lakhs of painters across the country, said the general manager of Asian Paints.
“The complete supply chain is managed locally and the products are completely manufactured in Bangladesh by Bangladeshis for Bangladeshi consumers,” he said
The category of paints play a big role in a nation’s economy and saves huge money in terms of replacement of assets – assessed to around 0.8-0.9% of GDP in certain studies, he added.
The company contributed Tk200 crore as VAT, supplementary duty and tax over the last five years and it is growing at a rate of 18-20%, Aroop added further.
Asian Paints Group began its journey with four friends in Bombay in 1942 and it has become the leader in the Indian paint market with over 55% market share since 1960.
Now, the group has operations in 18 countries across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and Carribean and Pacific Islands with a turnover of over US$2bn.