Vietnam is located in a tropical zone with a hot, rainy climate and high humidity that has a great impact on the durability and appearance of buildings. Many of them become seriously degraded, dilapidated and cracked due to mildew, fungus, and water permeating after only a short time of use. This posed an imperative need for research to produce waterproof materials and paint, suitable to all climate conditions. 

To solve this issue, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoe, Director of the Center for Colour Chemicals and High Quality Abrasive Materials Research of Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic University and now CEO of KOVA Paint Company spent great effort to research and successfully create new technology applied to producing waterproof materials and paint called KOVA.

Dr. Hoe said: “The name of KOVA paint originates from four letters of the prestigious Kovalevskaia Prize for female scientists who have made great contributions to science that I was honourably awarded in 1992.”
After receiving the prize for waterproof paint, Dr. Hoe went to the US to continue doing research and looking for cooperation opportunities. Here, she worked with some leading universities and paint firms and learned a modern research method. She made an important decision to cooperate with Smileland Paint Company, one of the leading paint companies in the US. She established KOVA Paint Company Ltd., in 1998 with the task of putting her scientific discoveries along with others by American scientists into production.

According to Dr. Hoe, the quality of its products is one of the top factors creating prestige for KOVA trademark. In the context of severe competitiveness between domestic and imported products, it poses a challenge for KOVA to improve the quality of products which are suitable to real environmental conditions and each construction project.

Engaging in the trade field, the scientist recognized that optimal technology is the shortest step to lower the price and improve the competitiveness of products. Therefore, for her the process of research and implementation must be practical, not only relying on theory because there are many issues that no school or book teaches. 

Every year, KOVA Paint Company spends 20% of its profit on research. At present, it has nine labs domestically and two abroad. Thanks to these modern labs, the company has continually increased its quality and created many new products which gain trust from customers from Singapore, a leading country in technology in the region.

As one of the first scientific and technological enterprises which was established in Vietnam, KOVA quickly occupied the domestic market. Over the years, the company’s products have won a series of prestigious prizes, including Golden Medals at the International Trade Fair (EXPO), the Top Ten Prestige Quality Trademarks of the Construction Sector; High-quality Vietnamese Products; Gold Medals at the International Exhibition on Construction Materials and Interior Decoration; the ISO Golden Cup Award and the title of Powerful Trademark and Competitive Label.

So far, KOVA has six affiliates, 700 agents nationwide and three production factories in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with thousands of skilled workers. It has also built factories in Laos, Singapore and Cambodia. The company’s products are tested and evaluated by the Testing Centre in San Francisco and the Singaporean Tropicalization Centre.

Thanks to high-quality paint and waterproof products, KOVA has not only successfully conquered the domestic market, but has also carved a niche in foreign markets, such as Russia, France, China and Cuba.