A new study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers has projected that the Indian newspaper market will register a compound growth rate of 6.9 per cent during the four-year period of 2004-2008.

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2004-2008 report came up with the findings states that India's newspaper market will grow from $ 1,869 million in 2004 to $ 2,404 million in 2008.

According to the report, the only other country to register a similar growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region will be Indonesia.

In absolute revenue terms, the markets in China, South Korea, Japan and Australia will remain bigger compared to India, but the growth rate in these countries will be lower, said the report.

On advertising revenues growth, the report painted a rosy picture for India, China and Indonesia saying that the compounded annual growth rate will be close to 20 per cent.

Japan was projected to stay far behind in revenues, with the newspapers there registering just 1.9 per cent annual growth by 2008.

The newspaper publishing industry in the region is expected to expand at a 2.7 per cent compound annual rate from $ 40.4 billion in 2003 to $ 47.3 billion in 2008. The US market, however, is expected to grow by about 3.4 per cent to touch $ 53.2 billion in 2008.

In 2002, the Indian government changed its media policy and relaxed foreign ownership restrictions in the newspaper category. Today, 26 per cent foreign equity holding in news-related print media is allowed, though editorial management must remain Indian. To boost the sector further, in November 2003, full foreign holdings were permitted in printing plants in designated economic zones.

India's increased ability to attract foreign capital, may act as the springboard for many new editions in the country. The report states that ever since the new media policy was put in place, UK's The Financial Times has acquired a stake in Business Standard, Dow Jones is expected to own a 26 per cent stake in The Wall Street Journal venture in India and Henderson Global has acquired a 20 per cent stake in Hindustan Times. The developments are expected to trigger a circulation spending growth in India to average 4.8 per cent compounded annually for the next five years. This is said to be the fastest growth rate among all the countries in the region.

Bhupesh Trivedi, IMO's publisher and media service company Chronosphere's CEO, is also scheduled to make a presentation on the subject of "cross-border publishing and outsourcing".

VDZ is organising this workshop, specifically when there is a rising interest amongst international publishers to establish presence in India, in the wake of the Indian federal government liberalising laws pertaining to foreign ownership of Indian publishing company.

The workshop is aimed at addressing several issues, including demographic complexities in India, magazine publishing opportunities, investment laws and cross-border publishing.

As part of the schedule, a dinner will be hosted by the Indian embassy in Berlin for all the delegates and speakers.

More details can be obtained from VDZ's Kai Helfritz (k.helfritz@vdz.de).