MANILA, Philippines – SM Prime Holdings Inc., through the SM Foundation, recently signed Memorandum of Agreement with the GfK Group for a school building project.

Under the MOA, GfK will provide a funding of P3 million, which will be matched with the same amount by SM Prime for the construction of two school buildings. Each two-storey, four-classroom school building will come complete with desks, blackboards, teacher’s tables, electric fans, books and toilet facilities in each classroom. SM Foundation will undertake a yearly maintenance of the schoolbuildings.

The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailer, service companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The No. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff.

In signing the MOA on behalf of GfK, Jake Savellano, General Manager of GfK Philippines, said that GfK chose SM as its partner in their CSR project “not only because of their widely known education advocacy but because of our similar exposure in the retail trade.”

SM Prime Holdings through the SM Foundation has been donating schoolbuildings nationwide in its effort to ease the classroom shortage in the country. So far it has built 37 school buildings on its own and in partnership with individuals or companies like the Deutsche Bank ING. GfK is the Foundation’s latest partner in this undertaking.

Signing the MOA in behalf of GfK aside from Savellano were Francis Laroza, GfK Retail Manager; SM Prime Holdings Inc Executive Vice President Jeffrey Lim; Debbie Sy, Executive Director, SM Foundation; and Carmen Linda Atayde, Executive Director for Education, SM Foundation.