Esther D'Amico

The hot colors in Egypt this year include salmon and pistachio, according to Mohammed Aboul Azm, owner of decorative paint firm Egyptian Coating in Cairo.

Huntsman/ICI deal creates new questions for industry.

The Mexican paint and coatings market has been slowly expanding since the country’s economic crisis of 1994.

With the Western European economy improving, paintmakers serving the region’s do-it-yourself and contract markets are optimistic that business will pick up slightly as consumer confidence rises.

Still, Latin America's largest paintmaking country continues to attract investments.

In some respects, staying ahead for multinational paintmakers is not much different than it is for companies a fraction of their size.

One need only take a short ride through town and see the great number of construction projects and cell phone users to get the idea that the city known as the "Venice of the East" is modernizing at a rapid pace.