By Vu Trong Khanh
HANOI--Belgium-based brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) Thursday
opened its first brewery in Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and
Trade said in a statement.
The plant, covering 100,000 square meters in the southern
province of Binh Duong, will produce 50 million liters of beer a
year, the ministry said. It said the capacity will be doubled in
the future.
The plant will initially produce the company's global brands,
including Budweiser and Beck's, the ministry said.
"The decision to build a brewery in Vietnam underscores AB
InBev's belief in the long-term growth potential of the Vietnamese
market," said spokeswoman Karen Couck in 2013, when the company
obtained an investment license from the Vietnamese government.
Vietnam is among the top beer consuming countries in Southeast
Asia and is attractive to foreign investors because of growth
prospects in its beer market. Beer volumes in Vietnam rose 8% last
year to 3.2 billion liters, according to data from the Ministry of
Industry and Trade.
Write to Vu Trong Khanh at trong-khanh.vu@wsj.com
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