Kymdan plans export-oriented expansion (10/03/2004)

The company is building a factory covering six hectares in Ho Chi Minh City's Cu Chi district, next to the existing plant, to produce export goods, and may employ 300 labours, Tri said.

With the capacity increase, Kymdan expects to raise export revenue to more than VND100 billion this year from last year's value of VND30 billion, the latter figure equaling to 10% of Kymdan's total revenue.

Kymdan will focus on the European Union, America, Japan and Australia in the short term. The company will map out a strategy for the Chinese market after 2005, he added.

Tri also said that such a market expansion is part of an export- oriented programme designed to celebrate the 50th establishment of brand name Kymdan.

The company has established subsidiaries in Germany, Australia and France, which are respectively named Kymdan-Germany, Kymdan-Australia and Kymdan-France. Last year, it set up sales agents in several main markets including Russia, Japan and America.

Kymdan is a famous brand name in the country, and the company's products have been voted by Vietnamese consumers as high quality Vietnamese goods for eight years in a row.

In 1993, a German environmental protection committee recognized Kymdan products, being friendly to people and environment, and licensed the consumption of the products in Germany and the EU.

On April 21^th, the United Nations World Industrial Property Organization (WIPO) will present Kymdan with the WlPO 2003, an award for companies that have made pursued technological innovations with high-valued products in the world.

Tri's father Nguyen Van Dan, the founder of the company, launched Kymdan rubber mattresses in Vietnam in 1954. The quality of Kymdan mattresses has improved continually, and the company says that the mattresses have a 20-year durability-Enditem.