Japan’s leading cosmetics maker Shiseido has announced the completion of its first-ever manufacturing facility in Vietnam.

The 25,000 m2 factory is Shiseido’s 15th production unit in the world. It is directed toward strengthening its global production system and becoming a production base mainly for products targeting the middle-income group in Asia, including China.

“Vietnam is situated in the centre of ASEAN countries and has beneficial conditions, including geographically and in terms of exports, as well as with regard to transportation costs, reduction of time and tariffs within the ASEAN region. The country also boasts a young and vibrant workforce,” said the company in a release.

The factory will commence full-scale operations in April and primarily manufacture masstige products for the Japanese market but will target the middle-income group in emerging Asian markets that are expected to achieve significant growth in the future.

Shiseido says the factory complies with the ISO standard on Cosmetics Good Manufacturing Practices (ISO 22716 ). The Japanese cosmetics maker invested around 42 million US dollars in this factory, which has a production capacity of approximately 22 million items annually and is expected to have a workforce of around 200 people by the end of 2010.