OLONGAPO CITY – SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia described as “robust” the market in Central Luzon, citing various developments and its accessibility because of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
In an interview, Garcia said “Central Luzon is strong as well” when asked by Punto about how confident they are in investing in Region III.
“There are also big improvements in infrastructure in the past three years. With those everything seems accessible (in Central Luzon). What used to be two hours of travel is now reduced to 30 or 45 minutes,” she added.
Garcia and SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPI) President Hans Sy led the opening of the SM Olongapo on Saturday, bringing to six their malls in the region.
She also announced that the SM San Fernando will open on May 18, bringing to three their malls in Pampanga and a total of seven in the region by mid-2012.
The other malls of SMPI in Central Luzon are in Marilao and Baliwag in Bulacan and Tarlac City in Tarlac province.
“We are always looking for opportunities” Garcia said when asked if SMPI will invest in other Central Luzon provinces, including Bataan, Aurora and Nueva Ecija. “Our aim is to serve more people,” she said.
Strategically located along Magsaysay Drive corner Gordon Avenue, SM Olongapo is SMPI’s 42th mall in the country.
In 2012, SMPI is scheduled to open SM City Lanang in Davao City, SM City General Santos in Southern Mindanao, SM City Consolacion in Cebu and SM Chongqing in China.
By the end of this year, SMPI will have 46 malls in the Philippines and five in China with an estimated combined gross floor area of 6.3 million square meters.
