SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH.PH), the Philippines’ largest mall operator by sales, will open its 33rd mall in the country on Friday, and the company shows no sign of slowing down its expansion despite the poor economic outlook.

The company will open SM City Baliwag in the province of Bulacan – its third and last mall to be opened this year, with a gross floor area of 61,554 square meters and total leasable space of 42,171 square meters.

SM Prime President Hans Sy said Baliwag is an ideal location for a mall as it is one of the major transport hubs in Bulacan province. ‘It is estimated that the opening of SM City Baliwag will provide employment to close to 1,500 people,’ said Sy.

Meanwhile, Harley Sy, president of SM Investments Corp. (SM.PH), SM Prime’s parent, said there will be no slowdown in the company’s capital expenditure. ‘There will still be (economic) growth next year,’ Sy told reporters Wednesday.

SM Prime had earlier unveiled plans to spend PHP10 billion (US$ 206.2 million) next year, with PHP7 billion to be spent for the construction of new shopping malls and the expansion of existing retail facilities in the Philippines and PHP3 billion for malls in China. Local expansion this year cost SM Prime PHP6 billion.

Jeffrey Lim, an executive vice president at SM Prime, also told reporters that the company is on track to meet its schedule to open three new shopping malls in the provinces next year, pushing the group’s gross floor area to around 4.7 million square meters by end-2009.

This year, SM Prime opened three new shopping malls and expanded several existing facilities, including SM City North EDSA, taking gross floor area to around 4.3 million square meters.

Lim said after its recent expansion, SM City North EDSA is now the world’s third largest the mall with 451,000 square meters, eclipsing Mall of Asia – also owned by SM Prime.

As for China, Lim said it could take some time before the pace of SM Prime’s expansion in that country could approximate the developments in the Philippines, where the group intends to open three new malls annually in the next several years.

‘We’re very deliberate in our plans for China,’ he said.  SM Prime already owns and operates three shopping malls in mainland China.