The Vietnam Milk Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) has been licensed to buy a 19.3 percent stake of the New Zealand-based Miraka Ltd company, investor of a high-quality milk processing plant in New Zealand’s North Island.

As the first foreign project for Vinamilk, the 120 million NZD plant has a designed capacity of 32,000 tonnes of milk powder per year and is scheduled to go into operation in August, 2011.

Established in 1976, Vinamilk is Vietnam’s leading business in the milk processing industry, with a market share of 75 percent. In addition to the domestic market, Vinamilk also exports dairy products to the US, France, Canada, Poland, Germany, Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Recently, Vinamilk became the first Vietnamese business to be featured on the US Forbes’s list of 200 Asia’s Best Under A Billion in 2010./.