SM Group scores big in China

One of the big businessmen accompanying President Rodrigo Duterte on his state visit to China is Hans Sy of the SM Group, now one of the Philippines’ biggest investors to China. SM currently operates six super malls located in Jinjiang, Chengdu, Suzhou, Chongqing, Zibo and Xiamen with plans to expand in other cities by initially putting up one mall per year.

While other investors have shied away from China, the Sy family – whose patriarch Henry Sy Sr. traces his roots in Jinjiang – has continued to be bullish about the Chinese market. Hans disclosed that they are venturing into the residential market in China, specifically in Chengdu, the capital city of the province of Sichuan.

Both Hans and his sister Tessie Sy-Coson – who happens to be the vice chairperson of SM Investments – have built the SM brand into one of the biggest conglomerates in the country today with major interests in real estate, property development and banking. SM Prime in particular is acknowledged as the leading mall operator in the country, with its SM Supermalls reaping awards from international award giving bodies in the shopping and retail industry.

As a matter of fact, SM bagged four major awards – one gold, three silvers plus one certificate of merit from the ICSC Foundation – in the recent International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Global Awards for 2016 for several campaigns that showcased marketing excellence. The awards underscore the company’s dominance when it comes to the local and regional markets in the international shopping center industry.

One of the awardees is the SM Lifestyle Center in Xiamen that got the silver for Marketing Excellence (under the Public Relations and Events category) in recognition of its efforts to preserve the city’s heritage tiles in a campaign. Much earlier in April, it received the gold also from ICSC for highlighting green architecture via its “Future Architects” campaign. The Lifestyle Center in Xiamen is actually attracting a lot of locators, among them Apple that chose to put up its first official retail store in the city. Unlike the other existing Apple resellers, the one in SM is directly owned by the company, offering premium items to customers.

One other reason that could also account for the success of the SM Group in China is its adherence to environmental sustainability. Just recently, it converted SM Xiamen into its first solar-powered mall to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use energy efficiently. SM Jinjiang on the other hand has an ice-based cooling system – underscoring the company’s commitment to invest in sustainable and energy-efficient technology as well as green-based technology that include water-recycling facilities, solid waste management systems and LED lighting, to name a few.

Leyte thanks Ambassador Goldberg

Disproving reports that Super Typhoon Yolanda survivors in Leyte are not appreciative of the help extended by the US government, former Tacloban City mayor Alfred Romualdez and former Leyte congressman Martin Romualdez separately presented plaques of appreciation to outgoing US Ambassador Philip Goldberg during a cocktail reception hosted by the Manila Overseas Press Club. The MOPC – the oldest and premiere press club in the Philippines – was founded in 1945 by Carl Mydans, an American photojournalist from Life magazine.

The Ambassador was very appreciative of the gesture, expressing his thanks for recognizing what the US government did that contributed in the relief efforts in the aftermath of the destructive typhoon. In fact, the US was the second biggest contributor of funds amounting to $90,074,53 – and that does not even include the massive airlift operations conducted by American personnel who were among the first responders. The USS George Washington, which was docked at the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong during that time, speedily dispatched Osprey aircraft that played a critical role in air dropping relief goods in hard-to-reach locations. Survivors in Leyte know this and in fact are very grateful because it spelled the difference between life and death for many of them. The US troops on the ground helped put order amid the chaos and confusion during the first few days after the onslaught of the typhoon.

The Ambassador, who arrived shortly after Yolanda, hit the ground running to organize relief efforts for the millions affected by the typhoon. In fact, rehabilitation efforts have not waned, with the construction of homes and other infrastructure such as school buildings and classrooms. Earlier this year, the US envoy led the inauguration of climate-resilient classrooms in Palo, Leyte – a project of the US Agency for International Development to restore educational facilities that were damaged in many places in Eastern Visayas as a result of Typhoon Yolanda’s destruction.

As the Ambassador had remarked, the US has always been a good friend of the Filipino people and will continue to work with government in enhancing the people-to-people relationship between our two countries. A lot of significant things have happened since Ambassador Goldberg began his work in the Philippines, but the one thing he will remember most is “the people and how warm and hospitable they have been,” he said during the MOPC event.

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