There is provided a surfactant composition, a stable, self emulsifiable water borne curing agent composition, and methods for the manufacture of each, and two component water borne curable epoxy resin compositions. The surfactant composition comprises the reaction product of an a) a phenolic acid substituted with at least one carboxyl group and at least one hydrocarbyl group having at least 1 carbon atom; b) a polyepoxide compound; c) a polyamine compound having at least two primary amine groups; d) a reactive surfactant; and optionally e) a monoglycidyl, monocarboxylic acid, or monoisocyanate capping agent; wherein the reactive surfactant comprises an epoxide, a carboxylic acid or anhydrides thereof, or an isocyanate functional moeity, and a hydrophilic moiety comprising a polyoxyalkylene monool or polyol residue. The reactive surfactant comprises a compound represented by one of the following formulas: ##STR1##
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