Government to offer Uniwide stores to Wal-Mart

Government will offer the financially distressed Uniwide group to US retail giant Wal-Mart after the French retail firm Casino Guichard-Perrachon backed out of its plan to buy into Uniwide, Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo said yesterday.

"The US Wal-Mart group is sending a small team of representatives to discuss their entry into the local retail trade market," Pardo said, adding that the Wal-mart representatives are "arriving on Friday for talks with government officials."

"We would offer Uniwide to Wal-mart if they are interested," he said.

Wal-Mart has sent representatives about three to four times in the past, but no concrete decision was made because of the downturn in the local economy and the recent political turmoil.Sources said Wal-Mart had second thoughts about picking the Philippines as a location for what would have been its first and only venture in the entire Southeast Asian region.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world’s largest retailer of general merchandise goods and also operates Sam’s Super Centers which features a wide variety of hard goods, soft goods and grocery items.

Government has been banking on the entry of a foreign investor in Uniwide to help it out of its financial troubles as well as infuse additional foreign exchange into the country.

Wal-Mart, however, even without the Uniwide offer, had already been exploring the possibility of entering the local retail market following the passage of the Retail Trade Act.

The Retail Trade Act was passed in 1999 and liberalizes the entry of foreign retail firms into the country.

Industry observers, however, said government may offer more sweeteners to the Wal-mart Group especially if they are going to bring in a substantial amount of investment.

Earlier, Pardo said the Economic Coordinating Council (ECC) will give tailor-made incentive packages to investors with planned infusion of P50 million and above, per project

Wal-Mart had originally planned to established operations in Indonesia, but the group ultimately decided to pull out. The Philippines has since become the top candidate for its regional headquarters or backroom operations in the meantime.