SMIC urges local firms to take advantage of Asean integration

MANILA, Philippines - Mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is advising local companies to take advantage of the opportunities from the upcoming economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Bigger markets, new technology and partnerships could be tapped starting next year, the conglomerate said in a statement.

“As we approach 2015, SM is enjoining local companies to explore, learn and harness the opportunities that economic integration brings,” said Corazon Guidote, senior vice-president for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications of SMIC.

During a the Ready for 2015: Future-Proofing SMEs for the ASEAN Economic Community forum of PLDT SME Nation, Guidote said Philippine companies should have the proper mindset in facing the forthcoming integration.

 “I believe that the greatest thing holding many entrepreneurs back in this country is the mindset. Many of them are still scared to go out and explore, to grow, and become bigger,” Guidote said.

Guidote said that while SMIC is large locally, it hardly figures in the top 50 companies in the Asian region.

“This is why we have to constantly focus on being global and benchmarking ourselves with global companies,” Guidote said.

The ASEAN Economic Community would facilitate free flow of goods, services, labor, investments as well as capital in the economic bloc starting in 2015.

Guidote said challenges companies face are strong resistance to change, complacency, thinking small, staying in the status quo, misinformation, the lack of financial discipline, governance and transparency.

Philippine companies need to keep a keen eye out for opportunities that the ASEAN integration would bring such as bigger markets, new technology and partnerships, Guidote said.

ASEAN member nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Companies also need to observe the characteristics and business models that successful companies, both here and ASEAN, possess and adopt, Guidote said.

For instance, the shopping malls business of the SM conglomerate has partnered with foreign brands like JCo Donuts & Coffee of Indonesia, Bread Talk from Singapore, Charles & Keith of Singapore and VNC/Vincci from Malaysia.

SM has also played a big brother role, housing homegrown brands like Jollibee, Bench, National Bookstore, CD-R King, Toby’s, Culture and Our Home.

SM Group, through subsidiary SM Prime Holdings Inc., is the Philippines’ largest mall developer and operator with 49 shopping centers.

“SM chooses tenants and suppliers for the concepts they bring to our world. They keep our malls and stores fun, new and exciting,” Guidote said.

SM Prime is doubling its income and revenues in the next five years as it grows its office, mall, leisure, hotel and residential portfolio by two-fold in the same period. It allotted P400 billion in the medium term to support its expansion in the Philippines, in China and in Southeast Asia.