SM Supermalls launches The SM StartUp Package for aspiring Filipino entrepreneurs

 

(upper L-R) Host Sam YG, Patty Ang of athleisure wear brand Patton, Jerald Sze of Straightfoward.
(middle L-R) Mary Jean T. Pacheco, Assistant Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Steven T. Tan, President, SM Supermalls; and Karen Cua, SVP & MSME Business Head, BDO Network Bank.
(lower L-R) Gina T. Katigbak, AVP, Leasing Strategy & Operations, SM Supermalls; Bob Tolentino, FVP, Merchant Partnerships Retail Sales Head, BDO; and Grace F. Magno, VP, Corporate Marketing, SM Supermalls

It has been almost two years since the pandemic brought Filipino life and many livelihoods to a screeching halt. According to a 2020 Asian Development Bank (ADB) study of 1,804 Philippine MSMEs, 70.6% were forced to temporarily close with 66.2% reported to have temporary staff cuts during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bucking these statistics and the odds created by the changes in the landscape, the enterprising Filipino found many opportunities in online businesses, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recording over 88,000 new e-commerce registrations at the end of 2020. This figure is projected to be a million e-commerce enterprises by 2022 (from 500,000 in 2020). By taking advantage of the online space, MSME owners have become unsung heroes of the economy, all the while providing for their families and making their business dreams a reality.

SM Supermalls very well understands the potential of each Filipino to be successful business owners because of their founder, the late Mr. Henry Sy’s own inspiring story. Sy, fondly called “Tatang” in SM, started out as a small business owner with his first footwear shop ShoeMart.

SM Group organizes relief and recovery efforts for Taal victims

After the recent eruption of the Taal Volcano in Batangas which affected thousands of Filipinos in Southern Luzon, the SM Group immediately mobilized Oplan Tulong Express, a relief operations program that gave assistance to the victims.

“SM has always been a partner of the community, especially in times of need and disasters. After the devastating calamity, we immediately reached out to those displaced by the eruption,” said Steven Tan, chief operating officer of SM Supermalls.

Young people take charge of the future at Global Youth Summit 2019

Organizers and speakers. From left: SM Supermalls COO Steven Tan, tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, SM Cares Children and Youth program director Royston Cabunag, Global Peace Foundation vice-president for Global Partnerships David Caprara, and Global Youth Summit head Leonard Faustino

More than 13,000 student leaders proved that young people can achieve great things during the Global Youth Summit 2019, the largest gathering for young Filipino leaders that aims to engage and inspire the world's future experts, held recently at the SM MOA Arena. 

Hosted by SM Cares, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings Inc., and Global Peace Foundation (GPF), Global Youth Summit (GYS) aims to engage and inspire young minds by providing a space where they can share their ideas and utilize their diverse skill-sets, knowledge, and networks to effectively address today’s persistent problems.

SM and Cagayan de Oro partners with National Resilience Council’s Adopt-A-City campaign

SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) signs a memorandum of understanding with Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) and the National Resilience Council (NRC), as part of NRC’s new Adopt-A-City campaign. By supporting NRC’s 3-year program, corporations can directly invest in reducing the city’s risk to old and new hazards and in the partnership’s long-term resilience. 

It implements a whole-of-society approach towards co-creating science and technology-based solutions and capacity building for evidence-informed risk governance. This program can include structural interventions and projects to address specific social, economic, and environmental exposure and vulnerability. This campaign enables the city not just to bounce back after a hazard strikes, but to also prepare for and prevent a disaster so as to “bounce forward” together in ways to reduce future risk. 

Digital technology in building infrastructure

Hans T. Sy, chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., delivered the keynote speech at the 44th National Convention and Technical Conference of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), held recently at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. 

SM Prime receives 2018 Frost & Sullivan Philippines Property Development Growth Excellence Leadership Award

Frost & Sullivan’s Vice President Sapan Agarwal presents the Philippines Property Development Growth Excellence Leadership Award  to SM Prime president Jeffrey C. Lim

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. was honored as the 2018 Frost & Sullivan Philippines Property Development Growth Excellence Leadership Award at the recent 11th annual Asia-Pacific Best Practices Awards banquet held at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore.  

Janice Wung, program manager, Energy & Environment, Frost & Sullivan noted that the property development market in the Philippines continues to develop steadily, driven by economic growth, rapid urbanization, and government spending on infrastructure projects.