Senji Miyake, the next president of Kirin Holdings Co., hopes to lead his company out of the blues of a failed merger bid with Suntory Holdings Ltd. by bolstering its presence in Southeast Asia.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Miyake acknowledged the collapse of talks that would have created one of the world's largest food and beverage companies was a "disappointment."

But the 62-year-old executive vice president said the company would prevail through aggressive involvement in Asia. That, he said, could include partnerships with local breweries.

Miyake explained that his focus is on Southeast Asia rather than China. While China, with its vast population, is the world's largest market for beer and other beverages, he noted that it is also caught up in a price war.

Had the merger succeeded, Miyake said he had no doubt that Kirin would have achieved its goal of 3 trillion yen ($34 billion) in annual sales by fiscal 2015. He said the company will still "earnestly strive to meet that goal."

Asked whether he was concerned about going it alone in overseas markets, Miyake said his strategy centered on trying to find prospective partners "in those markets that we enter."

"Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries are growing rapidly, and the region will surely become a large market in the future," Miyake said, adding "the return on investments will be greater than that from China, where a fierce price war over beer and soft drinks is unfolding."