(The Philippine Star) Updated October
08, 2012 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Upbeat on the
Philippines’ growth prospects, the Berjaya Group, one of the biggest
conglomerates in Malaysia, is moving to shore up its presence with plans to
bring leading international luxury hotel brand Four Seasons as well as wireless
device and consumer electronics retailer Radio Shack here.
In a briefing following the Bayanihan
Expo 2012 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City Saturday, Berjaya chair
Tan Sri Dato Seri Vincent Tan said he considers the Philippines a key growth
area given its robust economy and the Aquino administration’s good governance
agenda.
“The Philippines is undoubtedly now
realizing its economic potentials as a result of its positive economic and
investment climate. I believe the leadership of President Aquino, through a
straight path of transparency, will surely uplift its economy and society. We
are following him in this path to renewal and good governance in our
investments because that will be good for us and for the Philippines,” Tan
said.
Tan said the group is keen on the
manufacturing, in particular consumer goods, and retail sectors as it wants to
capitalize on the growing consumption by Filipinos and the expected increase in
tourism arrivals in the Philippines.
“We want to build more hotels. Our
group owns and operates five and four-star hotels in Malaysia and other
countries. We plan to build a Four Seasons hotel here,” Tan said.
The Berjaya Group is currently
building a Four Seasons Hotel in Kyoto Japan at a cost of $318 million. The
project is said to be the first luxury hotel to rise in Kyoto, which caters to
more than 40 million tourists a year.
For the consumer goods business, Tan said the
group is considering setting up RadioShack franchise outlets in the Philippines
as part of a deal to open at least 1,000 franchise locations across Southeast
Asia in the next ten years.
Berjaya and RadioShack signed a master
development agreement aimed at widening RadioShack’s global footprint.
RadioShack offers master franchisees a
range of modular, flexible approaches to retailing: stand-alone, mall-based
units or strip-center units, leased or built; kiosks; shop-in-shop units; sale
or distribution of exclusive private brands in consumer electronics; and
facilitated access to leading global brands and manufacturers.
For his part, Berhad Philippine
representative Paulino Soo said the planned investments reflect the Malaysian
conglomerate’s bullishness on the Philippines.
The Berjaya group has been doing
business in the Philippines for 18 years and currently has 800 employees
engaged in food & beverage (Papa John’s Pizza), hotels (Berjaya Manila
Hotel in Makati), gaming & lottery management (Prime Gaming Management
Corp.) businesses; social network (Friendster) and now automotive distribution
of Mazda products.
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