¡¡¡¡JAKARTA, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Indonesia recorded the highest growth in advertising spending in Asia, excluding Japan, in the first half of the year, reflecting continued strong growth in the country, the Jakarta Post reported Thursday.

¡¡¡¡Advertising spending reached 531 million US dollars in the first quarter of the year, a 39 percent increase from the same period last year, PT AC Nielsen Indonesia said, adding that the figures covered only ad spending in television and print media.

¡¡¡¡China recorded the second highest growth of 33 percent, followed by South Korea (19 percent), Malaysia (12 percent), Thailand (11 percent), the Philippines (3 percent) and Singapore (1 percent).

¡¡¡¡"The figures suggest consumer demands in Indonesia are still strong and the retail sector continues to thrive," said company director of communications and operations Yanti Nisro.

¡¡¡¡According to Yanti, despite the highest growth, in terms of amount of ad spending, Indonesia ranked sixth out of the eight countries and regions surveyed.

¡¡¡¡China topped the list with a total of 7 billion US dollars in ad spending in the first half of the year, followed by South Korea(2.5 billion dollars), Hong Kong of China (2 billion dollars), Thailand (660 million dollars) and the Philippines (657 million dollars).

¡¡¡¡With a total ad spending of 531 million US dollars, Indonesia'sspending was more than Malaysia's (432 million dollars) and Singapore's (419 dollars).

¡¡¡¡"The figures are calculated based on the published rate-card bythe media companies. In reality, the figure is much lower, as ad discounts and barters were not taken into account," said Yanti.

¡¡¡¡According to Yanti, three factors contributed to the high growth of ad spending in Indonesia, that is improvement in the local economy, the World Cup fever and the operation of five new private television stations in the country.

¡¡¡¡Advertisement in television in the country grew 32 percent in quantity thanks to the entry of the new television stations. Enditem

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