Philippine's biggest Developers to open new Retail Space to Satisfy Demand from Southeast Asia's most-confident consumers

Some of Philippine's biggest developers will put up more retail space in their stores nationwide as the Filipinos are spending more, becoming Southeast Asia's most-confident consumers.

According to The Manila Times, SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Ayala Land Inc., JG Summit Holdings Inc., and other giant developers are expected to build a record 724,620 square meters or 7.8 million square feet of additional retail space in the country's capital of Manila in 2016. Real estate service company Colliers International said that is a 10^th of the present stock in this year's third quarter. The retail space will come from 18 new buildings in 2016 from the country's biggest developers.

SM Mall of Asia, Philippine's most expansive mall and the second largest in the world, will contribute 200,000 square meters to that additional retail space. Meanwhile, Ayala Land will add 180,000 square meters next year.

The Standard reported that Filipinos working abroad and the rapid growing business-process outsourcing in the country has fueled the spending among consumers in one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. 60 percent of the country's economy is coming from private consumption. According to the Asian Development Bank, this number is seen to increase by 6.3 percent in the following year.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that global brands like the Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB, are now expanding into the country which used to ignore it. National gross domestic product of the country increased by 6.1% in 2014, because of the $27 billion in remittances from overseas Filipino workers and over $18 billion in business process outsourcing. Most of this money was spent on shops.

Nielsen Holdings Plc's Global Consumer Confidence Index reported that Filipinos were the world's third-most confident consumers during the third quarter, next to Indians and Americans. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas revealed that its latest survey shows the spending pattern of the Filipinos won't just end after the holiday season, but is expected to continue throughout 2016.