~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Disney merchandise arm targets Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos

HANOI - US entertainment and media giant the Walt Disney Company announced a licensing agreement to sell its consumer products in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Disney appointed US-based East Media Holdings Inc as its partner to license its consumer products -- including accessories, books, clothes, food and beverages -- in the Indochina region.

"Vietnam is a very dynamic market that is experiencing tremendous growth," said Douglas Miller, managing director of Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, speaking in Ho Chi Minh City. "With this announcement, three of our four lines of business -- studios, media networks and Disney consumer products -- are now present here," he said in a media statement. The move is the latest push by Disney into Vietnam, an emerging market of more than 83 million people, two thirds of whom are younger than 30.

Last month, Disney Studios' Buena Vista International announced a distribution deal with MegaStar Joint Venture Company Limited to screen movies in the Southeast Asian country. The Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney have aired in the communist country since last year, and in January the company also launched children's channel Jetix there, the company said. Vietnam booked economic growth of 8.4 percent last year and hopes to join the World Trade Organisation later this year, opening its market to international companies.

Agence France Presse - May 17, 2006.