The house of Associate Professor – Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoe, Chairman of Kova Paint Group, has 2 laboratories, because whenever she has free time, she will spend time on research. That is also the key to the success of Kova, a pure Vietnamese paint company that she researched to make paint from rice husks. And despite coming from a technical background who does not know much about business, the owner of paint Kova became a “reluctant” entrepreneur when creating a famous paint brand.

The owner painted Kova ate instant noodles, slept on the stairs for 2 months in the West sky

Born into a poor family in Nghe An, she became a student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology when she had 3 young children. “It was probably the first and biggest dose of my life. While going to school, groping for crabs to catch snails, one armpit raised 3 children. But thanks to that, I forged myself the ability and will for 2 doses later”, Ms. Hoe said.

After graduation, she was retained at the school as a lecturer. Being able to keep the school also meant that the door to scientific research was opened for her. In 1986, she moved to Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology to continue her research projects. In order to pay for science, she had to sell her house. But for her, only true scientific research can escape poverty.

The first step of Kova waterproofing paint

And with the research topic on waterproofing paint and many achievements in the field of paint research, in 1993, Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoe was awarded the Kovalevskaya Prize, a prestigious award for women scientists.

In September 1993, Ms. Hoe went to the United States to receive the award. From there, she decided to sell the products she made. The waterproofing paint she studied was named Kova, an abbreviation for the award she received.

In 1996, she opened a joint venture with Vinaconex, establishing Kova – Vinaconex Hanoi as a research center.

In 2000, she signed a contract with the US to cooperate in researching new paint technology for two months. To get money to the U.S., she had to borrow everywhere at high interest rates. And even though she sold her only motorcycle, she only collected $500 as a toll.Coming to the US, the scientist’s luggage was a 25 kg suitcase with samples of bricks, stones and shrimp noodles. “In my days in the United States, my fortune was $500 to spend and 20 kilograms of instant noodles to eat for two months. Short of money, I had to sleep temporarily under the airport stairs. I had to save as much as I could for research. This is the 2nd dose in my life,” Hoe said.

Venture into the market and create outstanding success

In 1998, realizing that the paint market in Singapore was very potential, because the work here was required to be repainted after 5 years, Ms. Hoe decided to go to Singapore to find customers.

With little capital and no way to do advertising, she chose to put the product in Singapore’s leading testing center.

Having a standard paper, Ms. Hoe began to look for bidding sessions. After much effort, Kova paint was finally tested in a project. But it wasn’t until she became involved in the repainting project of Vivo City Mall in 2009 that her products began to make their mark.

After the product trial period, the Japanese investor and contractor are satisfied. From the fastidious Vivo City project, currently 90% of the works of this Japanese contractor in many countries are using Kova’s paint.

Son Kova has also been involved in many major projects in Singapore, such as transport systems, hospitals, schools, airports and several Government buildings. The company also recently supplied antibacterial paint to a new hospital system that cost nearly $1 billion to build.

Most recently, Kova water-based paint was chosen for testing, replacing the thermoplastic paint used to paint roads in this country.

Sharing about the decision to bring Kova paint products into Singapore, a notoriously fastidious and highly competitive market with many leading brands in the world, Assoc-TS. Nguyen Thi Hoe said it was a reckless decision. Right from the beginning of the project, the partner of the Lion Island Nation said: “Vietnam can only export rattan or food, but in terms of science and technology, how can it compete with other countries”. Undeterred, the businesswoman decided to open an office here to explore the local market. Understanding that Kova paint products need to receive scientific certification from reputable organizations here, she decided to bring her products to Singapore’s leading testing center. This has cost the company billions of VND, it took more than a year for Kova paint products to be tested.

Although it takes a lot of effort and money, the Singapore facility’s recognition of quality has opened many valuable doors of opportunity for the company’s products. Currently, Kova paint products have been widely used in many local projects, such as the largest supermarket in Singapore, 650 apartment buildings, airports, hospitals, schools, hotels, factories …

Nguyen Thi Hoe – a woman who has dedicated her life to research

Hoe considers herself one of the few women whose only passion is research. Nearly 70 years old, she still moves continuously from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and then Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia … to run the production at the factories. The rest is devoted to the laboratory. New products that she researched were therefore constantly being released.

Mr. Nguyen Duy, Sales Director of Kova Ho Chi Minh shared: “Every few days the president calls me in to show new products and ask us to sell. New products are coming out so constantly that employees are not keeping up with the business plan.”

The main raw materials to make these nano-paints are nanosilicates from separated rice husks, which have a value a hundred times greater than rice husks, used in many fields such as paints, waterproofing, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, computers … Besides, in the research program of Kova Paint Group, Assoc-TS. Nguyen Thi Hoe also focuses on fireproof materials with the surface mainly concrete, wood, iron and steel. Nano flame retardant paint products from rice husk protect concrete, steel, wood surfaces … in the building under heat up to 1,000 degrees Celsius for a period of 4-6 hours.

The improvement in technology as well as thinking in business strategy has helped Ms. Hoe’s paint brand not only supply domestically but also expand to neighboring markets such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia.

The Chairman of Kova Paint Group always thinks that if scientists only research and do not apply production, they will not succeed. Success for her is to bring research into practice, get tens of thousands of products and be widely applied in life. Therefore, during more than 20 years of business, Dr. Hoe has never stopped researching for innovative products. Speaking of his aspirations, Assoc. Nguyen Thi Hoe shared: “I have a mind that I will continue to associate my life with scientific research, bring more scientific products with high practicality in life, help create many useful values for Vietnamese society, and bring Kova paint products to stand shoulder to shoulder with other big brands in the world”.

In addition to her business, Ms. Hoe has not forgotten to fulfill her corporate social responsibility with the Kova Prize Fund, which is annually reserved for poor students who study well.

Source: kovavietnam.com

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Nguyen Minh Hien