Asian Paints to invest more, increase market share in Bangladesh

Pragyan Kumar, global CEO of Asian Paints International Pvt. Ltd, tells the Daily Sun.

Bangladesh has a great potential for the paints market and the market is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13%-14%. Pragyan Kumar, Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asian Paints International Pvt Ltd, said this in a recent interview with the Daily Sun. He said, ?We would like the government to continue the investment friendly approach as it helps to bring more investments for industries, better technology, and generate more employment.?

How has the journey of Asian Paints been in Bangladesh?

We started our journey in Bangladesh in 2002 in collaboration with the Confidence Group. The partnership has grown, and it continues over the time. We began with some limited ranges of products at first. Now we have the whole aspect of paints. We also developed a variety of painting services for customers. Now we are working in the zones on decorating paints in the best range of products, all kinds of services in home painting, and comprehensive waterproofing and construction chemicals. Since its foundation in 1942, Asian Paints has come a long way to become Asia?s third largest paint company, with a turnover over $2.6 billion. We operate in 15 countries and have 27 manufacturing facilities in the world, servicing consumers in over 65 countries.

You have an investment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN), Mirsharai in Chattogram. What is your future plan on investments in Bangladesh?

We set up the latest major infrastructure for local operations in Bangladesh. We have made a significant investment in Mirsharai. The new factory is actually one of the most modern plants in the entire Asian Paints network. The factory has a high degree of automation, skilled people and new technology for quality production. We are growing our capacity in Bangladesh. We have directly employed 600 people in Bangladesh. And many people have also been employed indirectly. We have been investing in the country since 2002. Our latest investment in Mirsharai is close to Tk250 crore. We will keep our commitment in future too as we have the best quality products and services here. Bangladesh's economic growth was very impressive over the last 10 years. We will continue to work with investing more here. We want to be a part of the country?s progress.

What types of challenges do you face doing business here in Bangladesh right now?

There are no different challenges than we face elsewhere. We do have issues with the ups and downs of the economy. These happen in any kind of location in the world. We do face challenges such as the depreciation of currency. We are localising our products. So we need to reduce the amount of imported products and raw materials.

What is the potential of the paints market in Bangladesh? Could you please tell us about your market share?

The paint market is quite substantial. We estimate the paint market to be around Tk 5,000-Tk6,000 crore. If we include the space of waterproofing and construction chemicals, it would be much larger. We see a great potential market here. The market?s growth obviously depends on consumer affordability. The investment in home has ups and downs. However, we are working on prices and consumer segments. We are working not only on household?s paints but also industrial paints. We see strong prospects here. Amid high inflation, the paint market has had a healthy growth over the past five years. The market is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13%-14%. We expect the growth will continue. We have nearly 20% market share in the country. We are number two in this market and doing extremely well due to our high-end products.

Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited is a listed company in the stock exchange. Why not Asian Paints?

We focused on investment and funding over growth of internal sources. At some point of time, we will look into inviting public investment companies as well. Obviously, we are looking for the right time.

What is your ColourNext event?

The programme has been running for more than 20 years in India since early 2000. It intends to collaborate with professionals like architects and interior designers to understand the impact of colour. It is getting a variety of life. We are expanding the ColourNext in Nepal and Bangladesh as well as other regions through collective efforts of architects, designers and the people of Asian Paints to come up suitable products and services for customers in future. We want to go to the entire world.

How do you see the coating market in Bangladesh? What is the difference between your products?

The customers of Bangladesh can be described in two categories such as one segment is those who are very discerning and another is those who are passionate about different aspects of their lives and homes. The customers look for a variety of new and innovative colors. Product price is also important. It is a great experience working with customers. Our products are very suitable and we offer quality service for customers.

Do you look for any sort of policy support from the government?

The Bangladesh government has always been supportive here. So, we have been able to make a good investment in Mirsharai. I think the support from the government is available. We would like to urge the government to continue with this investment-friendly policy. The investment-friendly approach will bring more investment for industries, better technology, and generate more employment.

News Source: Daily Sun