Macksons expands manufacturing biz in Bangladesh

Macksons Holdings, a diversified group of fourteen companies is expanding operations in Bangladesh in manufacturing paints, tiles, and in import/ export and trading.

"We have joined with a Bangladeshi partner, and we are looking forward to the Free Trade Agreement ( FTA) between the two countries to either start a manufacturing facility there or to add value to our products in Bangladesh," a senior official of the company told the Business Times. She added that they do have a small operation in Bangladesh but now the company wants to expand there aggressively.

“We are trying to develop other local industry and at the same time are trying to bring foreign exchange into the country. we are also looking at expanding our tile mixing unit.”

The company has advertised having vacancies at all levels of management for Sri Lankans who have worked in Bangladesh.

Its first business venture 51 years ago was the City Trading Company, which traded building materials and paints. Diversifying its business, a small-scale paint-manufacturing unit was set up in 1981. Thus, from its humble beginnings, the paint company has grown to be among the top paint manufacturers in the country and Sri Lanka’s largest paint exporter under the brand name ‘Multilac.’

Macksons Holdings recently ventured into the real estate sector by investing in a state-of-the-art condominium project in the heart of Colombo. Further, Macksons has marked its presence in the plastics industry through Shimmzi Plastics Ltd. and owns a chain of giftware outlets under the name The House of Gifts.