Shiseido Completes Cosmetics Plant in Vietnam

Tokyo, Feb. 1 (Jiji Press)--Shiseido Co. <4911> will hold a ceremony in
Vietnam on Tuesday to mark the completion of a cosmetics plant there.
The plant, set to launch operations in April, will make Shiseido the
first Japanese firm to produce cosmetics in the Southeast Asian country.
The plant will roll out mid-priced products intended for the Southeast
Asian market.
The Japanese cosmetic maker invested some 4 billion yen to build the
plant in Amata Industrial Park in Bien Hoa, in the southern province of Dong
Nai. The plant has a floor space of 100,000 square meters.
The move is part of the company's broader efforts to cultivate demand in
Asia at a time when the domestic cosmetics market has little room for growth
due to a shrinking population.
Shiseido is looking to Southeast Asian countries in particular because
their rapid economic growth is likely to offer great opportunities due to a
rise in middle-class consumers and plans to abolish regional tariffs by
2015.
Itochu Corp. <8001>, a Japanese trading house, partly owns the industrial
park, where other Japanese manufacturers, including Toshiba Corp. <6502>,
Kao Corp. <4452> and Wacoal Corp., also operate.

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