The US$70 million plant will be able to produce 110,000 tons of high-grade brewers' malt a year – making it the largest such facility in Vietnam said Intermalt, the owner and operator of the plant at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

That's good news for the surging number of beer breweries throughout Southeast Asia, which will need to import less of their major ingredient from Australia and Europe in the coming years.

Barley, the principal grain in beer, must be malted (or germinated) to release the sugars that can be converted to alcohol in the brewing process. Different varieties of malt are used to create the varying flavours and colours in beer.