If you ask the Philippines’ richest by market value, prospects of the economy remain positive despite the prevailing geopolitical and political tensions.

Hans Sy, chairman of the executive committee of SM Prime Holdings, said when talking to investors, he presents the numbers to show that business is strong “as long as you don’t join (mix it with) politics.”

“I show them the political chart… which we know goes up and down. I then superimpose our growth which goes straight up. What I am trying to tell them (is that), as long as you don’t join politics, you wont be affected,” Sy told reporters on the sidelines of the Outstanding Filipino Retailers awards ceremonies on Wednesday.

For Sy, the Russia and Ukraine crisis and the Israel-Hamas war have shown the world the consequences of these geopolitical events and have taught “everyone to be more careful” especially in the light of the ongoing tension between China and the Philippines.

When engaging with investors, Sy said “we use our numbers.”

“We always tell them while you hear a lot of things about what’s going on…these are our numbers…whether it be in retail, malls or banking,” Sy added.

The SM Group always looks at the Philippines in a very positive light, and especially during Christmas.

Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairman of SM Investments Corp., said easing inflation and declining interest rates will perk up the economy.

“The credit card (industry) is going strong, loans are going strong, more people want to go into business,” Sy-Coson said.

She said the SM Group looks forward to a better Christmas this year.

“With or without (high) inflation, people are used to it. There are a lot of people going to the malls because they see the malls as a place for family gathering.  We are all hoping and preparing for a happy Christmas,” she added.

The Sy siblings optimism translates to their actions in their own company.

The SM Group is continuing its expansion in the domestic market to hit 100 malls by 2027 while expanding slowly in China.

Sy said domestic expansion is focused outside Metro Manila where there is huge potential.

“We have so many islands so we’re making it convenient by going to them (the consumers) rather than having them come over,” Sy said.

Sy said China is a different ball game. It’s very challenging, very competitive. We have to make sure we are financially very (strong when we open a mall),” said Sy, adding this same strategy was applied when SM Group started the mall business in the country, opening branches gradually.

Steven Tan, SM Supermalls president, said the company’s growth has stabilized to 6 to 7 percent, the same pace as before the pandemic.

“Foot traffic has long gone back to 2019 level. 

The whole year of 2023 was already much, much, much stronger than our 2019 numbers,” Tan said.

He added a lot of brands are entering the market, food and non-food.

Italian chocolatier Venchi is opening in the Philippines while French macaron brand is reentering the market by setting up a cafe.

“Global retailers still look at the Philippines as a very important market for them because of the very young population that the Philippines has,” Tan added.