JG SUMMIT GROUP
PHILIPPINE STAR: What has your group contributed toward nation-building? lance gokongwei, president and Ceo of
jg summit holdings inc.: JG Summit was born out of a vision to make life better and we do this by way of pioneering ventures or by challenging the incumbents and shaking up the status quo to offer innovative and value for money products and services targeted primarily for middle-class Filipino consumers. Our belief is that the Philippines is at a point where GDP growth will accelerate and we would like to participate in this wave in the years and decades to come.
Winning choices
Through the years, we have offered winning choices for the Filipino – the likes of Cebu Pacific, which opened up access to air travel; Sun Cellular (now part of the PLDT Group), the pioneer in bucket pricing for telco services (call and text unlimited) and our flagship business; Universal Robina Corp., (URC) which has for decades produced snackfood products and is now one of the largest branded food product companies in the Philippines.
We have proudly carried our Filipino brands such Jack ‘N Jill and C2 to the international markets across the globe to become the first Philippine multinational corporation (MNC) showcasing a wide portfolio of delightful brands of exceptional quality and value.
We have also invested in a pioneering petrochemicals company in the country by investing billions of dollars in building the Philippines’ first and only fully-integrated world-class petrochemical manufacturing complex in Batangas City, the JG Summit Petrochemical Group, because we believe that businesses such as petrochemicals is a vital requisite to the industrialization of a nation.
Today, JG Summit and its subsidiaries and affiliates touch around 80 percent of the average Filipino wallet or spending.
sustainability
Just as important as pushing our business agenda is ensuring that sustainable programs are embedded at the core of our businesses. To be truly relevant as a private enterprise, our ultimate goal is to be able to enrich the lives of our various stakeholders economically, environmentally, and socially for generations to come. PHILIPPINE STAR: What does JG Summit Group want to see or dream for this nation? Our dream is to one day see a prosperous Philippines with its own strong and globally competitive industrial sector.
education
Our founder and chairman emeritus, John Gokongwei, believes that education is a critical means to equalize opportunities for all Filipinos.
We need quality education to compete in this world. That is why through our philanthropic arm, the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), we are championing equity by providing scholarship programs. We believe that through education, underprivileged youths have the opportunity to succeed in life.
Through scholarship programs, GBF invites the nation’s youth to embrace their important role as builders of the nation. Through quality technical and vocational, which is offered by GBF, future members of the labor force are empowered to use their training and expertise to lead the Philippines to sustainable development because we believe that every life changed brings about greater change that impacts all of us.
digital leader
Going into my first year as the new president and CEO, my vision for JG Summit is to become the leading digital conglomerate in the Philippines with a strong regional presence.
Part of our plans for the conglomerate is to continue to strengthen and achieve full potential of our core businesses by implementing key initiatives to remain a significant player in the market. We participate in food manufacturing, real estate, petrochemicals, air transportation and banking, all of which significantly contribute to the upliftment of lives and the country’s growth.
Moreover, we will continue to be on the lookout for potential investments for growth while strengthening our diverse businesses. We will be pursuing new business opportunities by going into digital-related businesses.
As a conglomerate, given our different customer touchpoints, we can leverage our ecosystem and data to create synergies via a new digital business model. We have already announced the formation of a company focused on loyalty, analytics and data monetization as well as our investments in digital finance. We also have an entity that will look out for potential strategic investments in the digital space focusing on Southeast Asia such as rewards, data, financial services, consumer, new media, logistics, and the digital health sectors.
new growth engines
We will build additional growth engines by entering new spaces such as infrastructure and logistics. This is our way of participating in nation building. A clear example is our consortium with Filinvest, Changi Airports Philippines and Philippine Airports Ground Support Solutions.
The consortium was granted the operations and maintenance of Clark International Airport for 25 years early this year. We are also part of the consortium that submitted a proposal to modernize and rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
a better tomorrow
All in all, these efforts are our contribution, and one that holds true in fulfilling our company’s vision of “Making Life Better” for our stakeholders – our customers, employees, communities/country, and shareholders.