VIETNAM’S Phu Yen Beer and Beverage Joint Stock Company will build a US$6 million brewery in Kandal province with a Cambodian partner, the director general of the project Sieng Chan Heng said yesterday.

The venture will be 90 percent owned by the Vietnamese firm and 10 percent by Cambodia’s Heng Development Company, aiming to launch in April 2012, she said.

“We are looking to target the increasing number of Cambodian consumers,” she said.

“That’s why we decided to produce a local beer – to support the increase in demand.”

The plant is slated to provide 300 jobs once it is built in Ta Khmau district of Kandal province, aiming to produce between 10 and 30 million litres of beer a year, as well as other beverages.

The firm has not decided on a brand name for its beverages, but seeks to find a name appealing to the Cambodian beer drinker, she said.

“We are looking for a brand name for the beer which has a Khmer identity,” she said.

Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy Department of Industry Director General Meng Saktheara said yesterday that he supported another brewery in Cambodia, as it can satisfy domestic demand and create employment.

“It will be good the Cambodian economy, if they produce here,” he said. “Our goal is to get [investors] to produce high-quality beer for export to the international market.”

Cambodia has about 10 separate companies producing beer at present, he said.