“A new plant in Myanmar will come up in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, which is located on the outskirts of the commercial capital Yangon,” Pongcherd Jemeekornkul, president of TOA Paint (Thailand), said last week.

“This new factory will be able to expand production capacity on top of the existing facility.”

Pongcherd said that after establishing its sales representative offices and warehouses in Cambodia and Indonesia, the company had seen the huge potential in both countries. Therefore, the company had decided to erect two new factories in Cambodia and Indonesia, with an investment of at least Bt1 billion.

The new sites will occupy an area of 20,000 to 30,000 hectares. All plants are expected to be ready for production by the second quarter of next year.

With the increase in production capacity from new and existing factories, the company aims to become the number one brand in Asean, accounting for more than 15 per cent market share in terms of revenue, outpacing the current market leader Nippon Paint, which has 14 per cent share of the Bt130-billion market. TOA currently has a 13-per-cent share in Asean.

“The paint market in neighbouring countries is very alluring as these markets strongly prefer Thai products,” he said.

After full operation of three new factories in 2018, TOA Paint (Thailand) aims to generate total revenue of Bt20 billion. Of that figure, one-third will come from the overseas market, doubling from only 15 per cent last year.

Amid the economic slowdown at home, the overseas markets appear to be promising for TOA. Last year, the company recorded 3-per-cent growth to Bt16.5 billion, mainly driven by the regional market, particularly Vietnam that accounted for about 40 per cent of its Bt2.5 billion overseas income. Meanwhile, domestic sales saw flat growth of Bt14 billion.

He believed the domestic economy would recover this year, fuelled by the government’s investment in transport infrastructure in line with the stimulus package to boost housing. The real estate sector is expected to see at least 5 per cent growth this year.

To boost the local market, Puangpen Saengphet, vice president of marketing, said that her company had earmarked about Bt1 billion for marketing and communication strategies this year and across the country. Half of that budget will be used for online and offline advertising, marketing activities and sales promotions while the remainder will go to co-promotions via dealers, distributors and product consultants.

Currently the company has 5,000 retail shops, 2,500 TOA Colour World tinting machines, 1,300 product consultants and 300 sales shops across the region.