JAKARTA ~ Indonesia’s HM Sampoerna, a 98-percent owned subsidiary of cigarette producer Philip Morris International, announced this week that it will launch a clove-flavored cigarette under its flagship Marlboro brand.

Pungent kretek clove cigarettes are hugely popular in the world’s fourth-most populous nation.

“This is the first time HM Sampoerna has used the Marlboro brand to market its clove-flavored cigarettes in the country,” company director Angki Camaro told reporters.

He said the company would begin marketing the product in Java and Bali in the second half of this year, with sales to begin nationwide from next year.

Exports may begin in 2009, he added.

Philip Morris, a unit of Altria Group, acquired the 98-percent share in HM Sampoerna in 2005.

Indonesia is one of the most profitable tobacco markets in the world.