Fresh Paint
non-compliant products.
DUPONT LICENSES TEFLON
TO NATIONAL PAINTS IN EMEA
DuPont signed a DuPont Teflon sur-
face protector trademark license
agreement with National Paints
Factories Co. Ltd., the largest architec-
tural coatings producer in the Middle
East. This marks the third DuPont
Teflon license to be signed in the
Middle East. Headquartered in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), National
Paints will co-brand three interior and
two interior/exterior paints and a wood
varnish with DuPont Teflon. National
Paints will market the products in the
UAE, Oman, Jordan, Yemen, Qatar,
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan
and Kazakhstan.
AKZONOBEL POSITIONED FOR
PROGRESS SAYS CEO IN ANNUAL ADDRESS
AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers says the company’s ability
to adapt to the new world reality has put it in a strong
position to reinforce its status as a global industry
leader. During his traditional New Year’s speech to
employees, Wijers admitted that 2009 was an extremely
tough year, but added that AkzoNobel’s quick and decisive response to the downturn had enabled the company
to maintain its competitiveness.
“We faced a unique challenge, but we toughed it out,”
he said. “We proved our ability to adapt to the new real-
ity and we have put ourselves in a strong position to
take full advantage of any opportunities that may pres-
ent themselves.”
Looking back on a year punctuated by “very difficult deci-
sions which resulted in unavoidable job losses,” Wijers put
particular emphasis on the company’s operational effec-
tiveness. Driven by a
successful focus on
customers, costs and
cash, this manage-
ment of the various
businesses was han-
dled alongside other
key strategic activi-
ties, such as the
acceleration of the
ICI integration. The
CEO also highlighted
the continued invest-
ments which have
been made to support
the company’s commitment to sustainable growth.
“As well as making significant funds available in
AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers
the field of innovation and R&D, we also invested
heavily in capital expenditures such as plants, sites
and equipment and made acquisitions across our
portfolio,” he said. “So even though we were in the
middle of a deep economic crisis, we continued to
invest in the future.
“However, it’s important to realize that the world we
knew pre-2008 will not come back in a hurry, because
the economy and the world itself has structurally
changed,” Wijers continued. “We will therefore need to
maintain our focus on customers, costs and cash and
adopt different agendas for low and high growth areas.
In the low growth regions of North America and Europe
it will be essential to fight cost inflation, while in emerg-
ing markets such as Asia and Brazil we will be bolder
and invest in profitable growth.”
Acknowledging the valuable contribution made by
employees around the world, Wijers went on to stress
the importance of sustainability and further safety
improvements to the company’s continued success. He
also singled out the start-up of AkzoNobel’s new multi-
site in China as one of 2009’s key developments.
“The Ningbo site is a shining example of our commitment to sustainable growth in emerging markets,”
he said. “The start of production at the new chelates
facility was a major milestone and I am already looking
forward to the formal opening, which is expected to
take place towards the end of this year once the new
ethylene amines facility is on stream.
“We were determined to emerge from the crisis even
stronger and our achievements in 2009 have put us in a
good position. The year 2010 is likely to be another challenging year, but we will continue to put all our energy
into focusing on our customers and delivering
‘Tomorrow’s Answers Today.’”
