SM Prime plunks in P180M for OFW lounges in malls

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has allotted P180 million to build 36 lounge facilities designed to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families to SM Supermalls nationwide.

Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings Inc., told reporters during a news briefing that the facilities, called Global Pinoy Centers, were intended to meet the needs of returning OFWs and their dependents when they go shopping. Sy said each center would cost P5 million.

He said that providing OFWs and their families with more comfortable facilities was SM’s way of recognizing their contribution to SM’s growth through their continued patronage.

“Whenever I have trips abroad, I was always being asked by foreign investors what drives SM’s growth and I told them it’s because of the remittances of our overseas-based workers,” said Sy during the opening of the Global Pinoy Center at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

“After having major involvements in environmental issues, education, empowering the handicapped among others, I asked the people in the group now to focus on the OFWs in recognition for their vital role in enhancing SM’s growth,” Sy said.

As of August 2009, some two million OFWs had remitted $12 billion to their families.

SM will build two more Global Pinoy Centers in SM Mega Mall and SM North Edsa this year. It will continue implementing the project in 2010.

Under the plan, each Global Pinoy Center will assist OFWs in finding information on investment opportunities and provide them easier access to the Department of Labor and Employment and other government agencies, such as the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

The Global Pinoy Center will also enable dependents of OFWs to pick up remittances directly from their loved ones even on weekends and holidays.

The center will also function as a contact point for the present and former OFWs, balikbayans and their relatives.

As an added incentive, OFWs and their families can avail of discounts and freebies from SM Supermalls and other partner-establishments, through Global Pinoy card to be issued by the center.

A card-bearing member is entitled to privileges such as 20 percent and 15-percent tuition fee discounts with the Asia-Pacific College in Makati City and National University, respectively.

SM Megamall received the Philippine Retailers Association’s Shopping Center of the Year Award during its 2009 Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Center of the Year Night held recently at the Crowne Plaza in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

This is the fourth time that an SM Supermall has been cited by the PRA since it launched the Shopping Center of the Year Award in 2002. SM City Baguio was cited in 2005, and the SM Mall of Asia in 2007 and 2008.

Located along EDSA and Julia Vargas in the Ortigas Center, the SM Megamall created a lot of excitement when it was launched in 1991.

At 330,000 square meters, it was not only mega in size but big in cutting edge concepts like the clustering of tenants; the Art walk and the Art Center, brought art to the people through its mall galleries; and the Mega Trade Hall.

Later on, it opened a Cyberzone on the Fourth Level, the Mega Strip, a restaurant row for the 24/7 crowd along Julia Vargas; and the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord on the Fifth Level.

Since that time, the mall has undergone several renovations, making it more mega and more exciting. Last August, it launched the Mega Atrium, a niche mall within a mall with upscale stores and specialty restaurants for the up market crowd.

It also features a Grand Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord that also has an Adoration Chapel.

It has also opened a state of the art Event Center on the Lower Ground Floor, which is designed for large concerts, exhibits, and performances. With a seating capacity for 1200 people, it is envisioned to be a premiere events center in the Ortigas area.

It has also been on the fore front of environmental projects with sustainable features like the Sewage Treatment Plant and energy saving measures; as well as consumer activities like segregated waste cans; the Recycling Market Fair where one can exchange trash for cash; the conferences like the Green Retail Agenda, and the Green Film Festival.

For spearheading the activities in other SM Prime was granted the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Excellence in Economy and Environment Award last year for spearheading the various activities in other SM Malls nationwide. –Daily Tribune