Italian scooter maker Piaggio SpA will relocate its Asian Pacific regional headquarters from Singapore to Vietnam to further expand its business in one of the world’s largest scooter markets.

Roberto Collanino, Piaggio Group chairman and chief executive officer told that the move was aimed at tapping the potential of the Vietnamese market and boost exports of its products made in Vietnam to other countries in the region, such as Singapore, Laos, Thailand, Japan and Australia.

He said the group’s subsidiary in Vietnam, Piaggio Vietnam Co., Ltd, had rented a venue of 5.5 square kilometers beside its sole factory in Vietnam in northern Vinh Phuc Province.

The venue would be used as a research and development center, a sales office and management system to facilitate the group’s strategies for business expansion in the Asia Pacific market.

Piaggio, the world’s leading scooter and motorcycle manufacturer, opened its first plant in Vietnam in June this year.

The plant is expected to increase its production capacity to 10,000 units a month next year.

The group forecast it would sell about 17,000 scooters, 15,000 of which are Vietnam-made in the country this year, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Motorcycles are still the dominant means of transport in the Southeast Asian country of 86 million people.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has forecast the number of motorcycles would rise to 35 million by 2015 from the current 25 million.