DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 May) – After the victory of the first Mindanawon candidate in the 2016 presidential race, a business leader said he sees a huge potential for Mindanao as a growth area for franchising business.
Philippine Franchising Association (PFA) chairman emeritus Samie Lim said he believes that Duterte’s win will unlock the potentials of the island, as the incoming president vowed to bring peace to Mindanao.
He said Duterte’s promise of clean governance will also push Mindanao’s image up as an ideal location for franchising business.
Given the much needed attention boost, the executive believes that the island is an important destination not only as a potential expansion area for businesses coming from outside Mindanao but also for homegrown entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in other parts of the country.
“Mindanao will be a key player now,” he said.
He added that businessmen are also hopeful of Duterte’s stance against corruption, which he believes will boost the business confidence of the entrepreneurs to explore the island through franchising scheme.
Lim said he saw huge potential in the cities of Davao, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, Cotabato, and General Santos.
PFA defines franchising “as a method of practicing and using another’s perfected business concept. In a franchise relationship, the franchisee is granted the right to market a product or a service under a marketing plan or a system that uses the trademark, name, logo, and advertising owned by the franchisor.”
In a statement, PFA president Alan Escalona said their group is holding franchising shows outside of Metro Manila to help other businesses outside of the capital seize opportunities, which would further boost the economy by creating enterprises and jobs.
“Franchising is a tried and tested strategy that has helped countless of homegrown brands expand within and beyond our borders,” he added.
Among the Philippine companies that made their way to the global scale are Jollibee Foods Corp., Max’s Group, and Goldilocks.
PFA claimed to be “the premier and only internationally-recognized franchise association in the country. As the voice of the Philippine franchising, PFA’s members come from micro to large, both homegrown and foreign, in the food, retail and service sectors. It organizes the biggest 4-in-1 franchise event in Asia, Franchise Asia Philippines 2016, which has been known as launching pad for many national brands.”
Sam Christopher Lim, Samie’s son and PFAA director for special projects and digital innovations, explained that most people who venture into franchising business are the young players or the students who compose “half of our population.”
There are also people aged 50 and above who invest in franchising as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who want to grow their savings, according to him.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11 director Ma. Belenda Ambi said that the “Philippines’ robust economy will keep the franchising business and retail/services sector as a whole buoyant over the next succeeding years as it had over the previous years.”
She attributed the rosy outlook to the growing middle class with their increasing disposable income, increasing sophistication of consumers’ openness to foreign brands, growing population and growing consumption, young population with an average age of 23, desire for brands representing a cosmopolitan lifestyle.
“Indeed, the domestic market alone is very promising for retail trade and services sector. Of course, we, in the government, promote other high growth sectors and industries, as well for our MSMEs.”