Indonesia to open 5,000 Alfamart Stores in the Philippines

Alfamart targets 400 stores in Philippines next year

Mini market chain Alfamart aims to increase the number of its outlets in the Philippines from the current 185 to 400 next year and add one distribution point to complement the existing one in Greater Manila.

The company expanded into the Philippines in 2014, teaming up with local company SM Investments Corporation.

"We expect to reach break-even point by the middle of 2017, after three and half years of investment," Alfa Group chairman Djoko Santoso said after an AlfaLand press conference at the Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta on Friday.

He said the business climate in the Philippines was good and processing licenses and arranging land acquisition were easy there. After 2017, the company will be more aggressive by doubling the number of its stores every year.

"After five years of investment, we want to have at least 5,000 stores in the Philippines," he said. (evi) – The Jakarta Post

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Libya Alert Level 2: Benghazi Mayor calls on Philippines to reopen consulate

Benghazi’s Ahmed Al-Oraibi with Philippines diplomat Camaloden Guro and Doris Battard of the local Philippines community (Photo: LANA)

Benghazi acting mayor calls on Philippines to reopen consulate.

Ahmed Al-Oraibi, appointed last month by Major-General Abdul Razzaq Al-Nazhuri as acting mayor of Benghazi, has called on the Philippines to reopen its consulate in the city. It was closed more than two years ago.

Oraibi made the call during a meeting at the municipal offices on Saturday evening with a member of the Philippines embassy, Camaloden Guro, who is visiting Benghazi to consult with members of the community and carry out a number of consular activities. Also attending was Doris Battard, the Filipina nurse and community leader who has worked in Benghazi for 23 years.

Thanking Filipinos for remaining at work in the city despite the situation, Oraibi was nonetheless told of the many difficulties faced by them not least the lack of funds.

Oraibi’s call call comes a week after the Philippines foreign ministry lifted it mandatory order to all Filipinos to leave Libya. The Philippines’ Crisis Alert Level for Libya has been downgraded from 4 (mandatory repatriation/evacuation) to 2 (restriction phase), enabling those who left but with existing work contracts to return. However, it remains illegal for Filipinos to accept new work contracts in Libya and travel there.

The decision to downgrade the crisis alert follows a visit to Tripoli by an assessment team from Manila last month. Under Level 2,

Filipinos are called on to restrict non-essential movements, avoid public places, and be prepared to leave in necessary. – Libya Herald

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