Primary Group targets healthcare, logistics in next phase of growth

CEBU, Philippines — After 75 years of building its business around construction, Primary Group of Builders Inc. is positioning itself for a new phase of growth, with investments increasingly focused on healthcare, logistics, assisted living, technology and other industries expected to shape the next decades.

President and Chief Executive Officer William C. Liu said the company is using the current economic environment to strengthen its capabilities and prepare for structural changes brought by artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles EVs), renewable energy and evolving supply chains.

“AI is here. EVs are here. All kinds of renewables are here now. They’re not science fiction anymore,” Liu said during the company’s 75th anniversary celebration.

Rather than slowing expansion, Liu said Primary is using the period of softer economic activity to become more prepared for the challenges ahead.

The group’s strategy is built around diversification, with logistics emerging as a key growth area.

Liu said inefficiencies in the country’s logistics system leave substantial room for improvement, noting that logistics can account for as much as 40 percent of the cost of moving goods.

Primary Group of Builders intends to help bring that cost closer to 10 percent, an improvement that Liu said could have broader implications for business costs and inflation.

The group is also moving deeper into healthcare. What began as a clinic established during the Covid-19 pandemic eventually developed into a hospital, reflecting Primary’s strategy of entering sectors where it sees long-term structural demand.

Liu said the group is also exploring assisted living, anticipating growing demand as the country’s population ages.

The company’s expansion into construction materials, aggregates, mining and logistics similarly reflects a strategy of controlling more parts of the supply chain rather than remaining solely a contractor.

Primary’s evolution into a diversified group has been driven by what Liu described as a willingness to enter unfamiliar industries, learn quickly and build capabilities internally.

That approach is likely to remain central as the company enters its next 25 years, with technology and changing business models forcing traditional companies to rethink how they operate.

For Liu, the challenge is not simply to preserve a 75-year-old business but to make it relevant to the next generation.

“The next number of decades will be seeing much greater challenges,” he said, pointing to rapid technological change and the need for organizations to adapt.

The company’s forward strategy, therefore, is less about pursuing growth for its own sake and more about building businesses around long-term gaps in the Philippine economy—from logistics and healthcare to emerging technologies and new models of real estate.

Primary’s 75th anniversary marks more than a milestone. It signals a shift from being a builder of projects to becoming a group focused on developing the infrastructure, services and businesses needed to support the next phase of economic growth.