Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele invited Philippine businessmen to invest in his country, citing shopping malls in particular, officials said Wednesday. 

The Tongan minister made the invitation during a meeting with President Gloria Arroyo at the presidential palace, said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap who attended the meeting. 

‘He invited a lot of Philippine investors especially the big retailers like the SM group. They’re inviting the SM group to put up some malls in Tonga,’ Yap said, adding the malls could benefit from increased tourism to Tonga. 

The SM group, owned by ethnic Chinese tycoon Henry Sy Senior, operates the biggest shopping malls in the Philippines and has interests in banking and real estate as well. Sy’s son, Henry Sy Junior, who was present at the meeting, told the Tongan leader that ‘they’re going to look into it,’ Yap said.