Vietnam is projected to take the lead in the expansion of its entertainment and media market in the next five years, with the overall compound annual growth rate to be the highest in the world at 16.7 percent, said a global business advisory firm.

In its 10 th Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report, PricewaterhouseCoopers said the value of Vietnam ’s entertainment and media market approximately tripled in five years from 2004 to 2009 and is expected to exceed 2.3 billion USD in 2013.

The greatest contributor to the growth, the consultancy firm said, is the internet access market, which is expected to grow by 20.9 percent during the period.

Advertising will likely expand by 10.9 percent, and consumer spending (excluding Internet access) by 16.1 percent, it added.

According to PriceWaterHouseCoopers, economic expansion is helping drive the large increases expected in most of the high-growth countries including Vietnam . Infrastructure improvements, particularly in the areas of broadband and multichannel television as well as mobile telephony, will also be principal drivers.

Vietnam still has substantial room for growth due to low penetration in many categories of E&M, it said. In line with global trends, growth in Internet access spending, television advertising and television subscriptions is expected to lead the industry’s expansion in Vietnam .

The global entertainment & media market as a whole, including both consumer and advertising spending will grow by 2.7 percent compounded annually for the entire forecast period to 1.6 trillion USD in 2013.

Latin America and the Asian Pacific remain the fastest growing regions, expected to increase at an annual compound rate of 5.1 percent and 4.5 percent through to 2013, reaching 73 billion USD and 413 billion USD respectively./.