Egyptian paints and coatings manufacturer, Kapci says its newly built factory in India will be operative within the second half of 2016. According to Mohamed Rateb - Kapci's sales and marketing manager, the investment cost of the new factory is US$12.5 million i.e. exceeds 100 million Egyptian pounds. Kapci is the first Egyptian company to build a coatings factory in India, Amwal Al Ghad quoted Rateb as saying Thursday. The factory is built on a space of 50,000 metres in Bangalore, south of India, he added. The location of the factory is based on scientific and marketing studies conducted by Kapci. Furthermore, Rateb said the Indian factory is set to be an exporting hub where Kapci's products can reach the South Asian region, backed by India's free trade agreement with the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The free trade agreement reduces the tariffs on a majority of traded goods between India and ten-member ASEAN bloc; Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Additionally, Kapci's Indian factory will contribute to boost the group's exports to the country, which currently stood at US$3.5 billion, the Egyptian official stated. The company is still determined to chalk out an aggressive expansion strategy, by opening up new export markets for the coming period, Rateb added. He also said Kapci Coatings currently exports to more than 55 countries worldwide. Kapci is not only the biggest coatings firm in the Middle East region, but also it is placed the 67th in world rankings engendering confidence in Kapci brand, Rateb said. This inspired Kapci's employees to exert more efforts to acquire larger market shares not only in the Middle East but on the global level.
