The announcement, made following the group's annual stockholders' meeting last week, comes as URC attempts to diversify its operations and international markets. The company suffered a three per cent decline in net sales during its final quarter last year.

Speaking after the meeting, URC director Lance Gokongwei attributed the decline to the costs of restructuring the company's Chinese operations, as well as sales difficulties in Indonesia.

A company spokesperson later said URC wants to step up production in Asian markets that demonstrate greater potential for growth. The investment in Thailand and Vietnam would allow URC to strengthen its global production base, and tap into increased demand for biscuit and wafer products in those countries, he added.

"In Thailand, we are already market leaders for biscuit and wafer production and are looking to strengthen our position there," the spokesperson told AP-Foodtechnology.com. "We also believe that the market for these products in Vietnam shows very high potential."

Through a predicted turnaround in the group's Indonesian operations, and its advances into Thailand and Vietnam, URC estimates it will make double digit sales growth during the year.