"In just under two years, our office here has already been successful in receiving substantial orders from breweries in both Vietnam and Laos as well as the supply of 18 tanks to Thailand," Andreas Benischek, managing director of Ziemann Asia-Pacific, said last week.

"Business is looking good for the coming year and with discussions ongoing we are confident of major additional orders," he said.

Established in January 2005, the regional office recently delivered 18 stainless-steel fermentation tanks to a brewery in Pathum Thani province. The tanks, with a volume of 290,700 litres each, were shipped in a convoy of 18 barges along the Chao Phya River from Sri Racha harbour to Pathum Thani.

They had previously travelled from the Ziemann production facilities in Buergstadt, Germany, to Antwerp via the River Main before crossing the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

Ziemann is the only brewing technology firm to produce beer plants as well as individual tanks. It has production facilities in Germany, France, Brazil and China and a global workforce of more than 1,000. The plant in Germany is capable of manufacturing up to 600 tailor-made fermentation tanks each year.

Ziemann's objective is to establish partnerships with customers that will significantly contribute to their future growth and success, said Benischek.