Retail tycoon optimistic on Philippine’s economic future

CEBU, Philippines - Retail magnate Hans T. Sy maintains a positive outlook on the over-all economic future of the Philippines amid the shift of political leadership in the United States, which is highly anticipated to affect the multi-billion-peso Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry here.

"I am a businessman, we adapt to any situation," said  Hans Sy, the 60-year-old son of the country’s richest man Henry Sy of SM Group, referring to the victory of Donald Trump as the new President of the United States of America, whose out-of-the-ordinary leadership style is also likened to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Sy, who was in Cebu Friday to grace the opening of SM City Cebu’s "Christmas Village of Hope", expressed confidence that the consumption-led economy in the Philippines bolstered by 1.2 million outsourcing workers will remain strong, despite Trump's thrust to discourage American companies to outsource jobs outside of America.

At present, the outsourcing industry in the Philippines is employing 1.3 million people, contributing 7.3 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Philippine outsourcing sector is providing support to mostly North American clients, or 77 percent of the total outsourcing industry.

"We will see what is (really) his (Trump) direction," said Sy adding that his company will continue its original aggressive plans for expansion here and abroad.

Sy, who sits as the chairman, executive committee for SM Prime Holdings, Inc., said this early businesses or investors should not do or make major reactions, instead listen to policies first, before doing major moves.

Likewise, the strengthened alliance between China and the Philippines may aid its challenging entry to the Chinese market, but the company still maintains conservative move, with the target of opening one mall every year in China.

Sy said it is "business as usual" for the SM empire despite the altered political leadership culture both in the Philippines and the United States, and threats of weakened BPO growth in the country.

This year, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), the Philippines’ leading integrated property company, announced that it will earmark at least P60 billion annually for the next three years to sustain its developmental goals.

According to Sy, SM Prime’s expansion program for the malls remains focused on the provinces which present major opportunities for higher growth and where many areas remain unserved.

In the housing sector, we will continue to serve the Metro Manila area but will slowly move towards the provincial areas in the medium term.

"The emergence of the Philippine economy will allow us to be of greater service to as many communities as we could possibly reach,” Sy said earlier. (FREEMAN)