• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 28, 2011

Dentsu, the 110-year-old Tokyo-based agency holding company that is the parent of U.S. agencies 360i and mcgarrybowen, this morning unveiled plans to open a media agency in Vietnam. The new media services agency, which will be called Dentsu Media Vietnam, will open its doors in January 2012, and will operate as part of a network of media shops in Asia known as the Dentsu Media Network.

Dentsu already has dedicated media shops in Taiwan, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Korea and Hong Kong. Dentsu said the new media shops will operate in conjunction with two existing full-service agencies, Dentsu Vietnam Ltd. And Dentsu Alpha Ltd. to develop local and regional advertising clients in the market.

According to the most recent edition of ZenithOptimedia’s global ad expenditures forecast, Vietnam is projected to generate $609 million in media spending this year, up 9.4% from 2010, and will grow at or near double-digit rates for the next couple of years. Dentsu Media Vietnam will be headquartered in Hanoi, and will be 90% owned by Dentsu and 10% by local Vietnamese agency Neko Co. Ltd. It will begin operations with about 38 full-time employees.