An Italian water heating firm has opened its first manufacturing plant in Vietnam that cost US$18 million to build.

Vietnamplus reported that Ariston Thermo inaugurated its plant in Tien Son Industrial Park in the northern province of Bac Ninh on Friday. 

Covering an area of over 50,000 square meters, the plant will offer jobs to about 300 people and is expected to produce up to 1 million electric water heaters per year.

The firm's first plant in the country is its largest facility in Southeast Asia and the second largest in Asia.

The new plant aims to increase Ariston Thermo’s production capacity in Southeast Asian countries in which Vietnam is the focus of the company’s development strategy, said Paolo Merloni, chairman of the Italian firm.

In early 2014, Ariston Thermo expanded its business by penetrating the South African market via the purchase of Heat Tech Geysers, South Africa’s second biggest water boiler manufacturer with over 150 employees and total revenue of 15 million euros reported in 2013.

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