With its current facility near Ho Chi Minh City operating at full capacity, Akzo Nobel is building a new decorative coatings factory in Vietnam.

Operated by Akzo's Decorative Coatings International (DCI) business, the new factory is located on a 40,000-sq.-meter greenfield site in Dong Nai province.

The new plant is expected to start production by the first quarter of 2005.

"This new factory will provide a stronger platform for increasing our market share in Vietnam in line with our targets for the business unit's expansion in the Asia Pacific region," said DCI general manager Jan Andersson. "Growth is impossible at our current Ho Chi Minh City premises as it is already running at full capacity and cannot be further expanded."