Iwatani established a local affiliate in Vietnam under the name of “Vietnamese Iwatani” (Capital of USD500 thousand) and held an opening ceremony locally on September 14, when a total of 70 persons attended including President Masao Nomura and other Iwatani people and local business partners.

In Vietnam, Iwatani established a representative office in Ho Chi Minh in 1993 and in Hanoi in 1995, but closed them soon. Again in 2007 Iwatani newly opened its Hanoi Representative Office to make marketing research and at the same time to seek a good timing to transform the office into a locally incorporated company. Vietnam is a young country with a population of average age at about 30 years and an expansion of demand can be expected in the future. Owing to the abolition of import duties within the ASEAN region in 2015, activation of business is also expected in the region. Vietnam as a China plus one is a country to which many overseas companies including Japanese will keep advancing to hedge their risks concerning China.

The decision to establish the local corporation was aimed to enable local services and activities beyond the conventional scope of a representative office. The local affiliate has been a long-awaited establishment for Iwatani after almost 22 years from the first advancement into the country. The new company mainly will do the material-related business like synthetic resin or metals and also sell industrial gases and machinery. The local company established its headquarters at Pacific Place of Onkiet Street, Quan Hoan Kiem in northern part of Hanoi. The office started with six persons consisting of two including the president Taro Minamoto and four local staff-members.

On September 14 when the opening ceremony was opened at Sheraton Hotel Hanoi, President Nomura of Iwatani addressed saying, “Since the period of the representative office we have been selling heatproof paints of material-related item and exporting to Japan plastic molded products. As for the items related to industrial gases and machinery we have been selling welding supplies and robots as well as gases through our agents. Taking this opportunity of establishment of corporation, we will aim to be a company which contributes to the development of Vietnam in the business related to the popularly required items by the
automotive, motorcycle or electrical industries.