FAISALABAD: Akzo-Nobel Pakistan Ltd, a leading global manufacturer of paints and coatings, announced the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Pakistan. The integrated paints and coatings plant will be located at the Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The facility will span 25 acres and is scheduled to start operations in 2023.

With agile manufacturing, the new manufacturing plant shall allow AkzoNobel to be more competitive in the market. Designed to deliver a planned year-on-year expansion in production volumes over the next five years, this shall support AkzoNobel Pakistan Ltd. in realizing its growth ambitions for Pakistan with more speed.

“Under our global mid-term business strategy, AkzoNobel is committed to grow in Pakistan. Since 2020, AkzoNobel has been consolidating its position in the Pakistan market with the ongoing share buy-back of USD 16mn (PKR 2.75bn) via Foreign Direct Investment. The new manufacturing facility at Faisalabad is the next step to grow on our strong foundation. With the biggest investment of AkzoNobel in Pakistan till date, the new facility is a true vote of confidence in this market’s growth potential,” said Mubbasher Omar, Chief Executive Officer, AkzoNobel Pakistan Limited.

Adding on this, Mubbasher said, “We foresee strong growth in the paints and coatings business in Pakistan. This green-field expansion in the strategic industrial hub of Faisalabad strengthens AkzoNobel Pakistan’s commitment to serve its diversified performance coatings and decorative paints customer base today. It will also act as a tailwind to our ambitions to meet the growing market demand in the future.”

The new civil infrastructure in the plant will allow for a redesign of the production flow to deliver increased safety, efficiency and better product handling during manufacturing leading sustainable business in Pakistan.

At AkzoNobel, our purpose – People, Planet, Paint is integrated into every action we take and guides our approach to sustainable business. We are the first paint and Coatings Company to receive Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) approval for our goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 across the full value chain.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022