Cebu City – The SM Group continues to be bullish about Cebu, as indicted by the expansion plans of affiliate companies operating here.

Marissa Fernan, SM senior assistant vice-president for marketing for Visayas and Mindanao, said over P1 billion is being poured into the annex building of SM City Cebu mall. The annex will offer an additional 127,000 sq.m. of leasable space.

Ms. Fernan said Watson’s has projected to increase its outlets in Cebu to 10 by the end of the year. Almost P3 billion has been invested in Cebu since SM started operations in the late eighties here. This does not include the investments made by affiliate Banco de Oro, which has 12 branches in Metro Cebu, Ms. Fernan said.

“A most important attraction of Cebu to a company like SM is the veritable gold mine due to the rapid growth of the biggest concentration of urban population in the Philppines outside the National Capital Region, Ms. Fernan said in a panel discussion during the InTourPreneur 2006 conference here.

She also cited the conducive business environment in Cebu brought about by government and private sector cooperation. Another advantage is the adequate pool of human resources, Cebu being the center of education in Visayas.

“Cebu’s location allows it to be highly accessible to other parts of the country and strategic hubs in Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore,Ms. Fernan said.