Andrew Tan unveils his bold vision for The Mactan Newtown

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. —Ralph Lauren

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.  —Jonathan Swift

MACTAN, Cebu — The Philippines’ third wealthiest billionaire, top taxpayer, real estate leader, McDonald’s tycoon and world’s largest brandy manufacturer Andrew L. Tan recently unveiled his bold vision to help boost tourism and economic growth in central Philippines with his property giant, Megaworld’s 28.8-hectare The Mactan Newtown in Cebu province.

In five to seven years, Megaworld will invest P30 billion to develop the township as a master-planned mixed-use tourism, residential, commercial, information technology, educational and leisure complex.

Overlooking the scenic azure waters of Hilutungan Channel, The Mactan Newtown is rising fast with new luxury residential and office condominiums, five proposed hotel projects (two of which will be beachfront hotels), the proposed three-level Plaza Magellan lifestyle mall and other facilities beside the historic Mactan Shrine (which Megaworld has offered to help the national government to rehabilitate and improve). This mega project is also near Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa.

What are the success secrets of Tan as a phenomenal self-made entrepreneur and dynamic property developer that other businesspeople and professionals can learn from? His Megaworld real estate giant is part of the Alliance Global Group. Megaworld will celebrate its 25th anniversary in June this year. Among his numerous charities, Tan donated P50 million last year to help victims of typhoon Yolanda.

Based on exclusive interviews with Noli Hernandez, Carmen Fernando and Megaworld Corp. public relations and communications director Harold C. Geronimo, here are the characteristics, strategies and habits of Andrew Tan:

1. Vision — Each entrepreneur and professional should have a vision in order to reach his dreams and goals. Tan has bold and long-range vision, not only for Megaworld and his companies, but also for the economic prosperity of the Philippines and Asia.

 â€œAndrew Tan is a visionary; he can envision things, concepts, whole cities and big endeavors,” says Hernandez, who has been with Megaworld for 20 years. “For all of us who work for his diverse companies, it is really a blessing that we’re led by an extraordinary visionary.”

Fernando, who has been with Megaworld for 15 years, and Geronimo also cited Tan’s being a visionary as the No. 1 secret behind his success.

2. Recruit and take care of good people — One of Andrew Tan’s business secrets is his selection and nurturing of good managers and employees. Years ago, Tan told me that, unlike many other family-run firms where the founder’s siblings or kids help run ventures, he has tapped many of the brightest professionals. “Salary alone is not enough,” Tan said. “A firm should make employees happy in their work.” Geronimo added, “Mr. Tan knows how to value and take care of his people.”

3. Be good at financial numbers — You don’t need to be a math genius like Albert Einstein, but it is essential for wealth creation and preservation to learn at least the basics of financial literacy.

Tan is as an accounting graduate of the University of the East, with magna cum laude honors. He is reputed to be a financial whiz. Not a few aggressive and brilliant tycoons here and abroad are geniuses at building up companies, but some of them lack either the financial discipline or wizardry to reach greater heights of success. Professionals or small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs should watch their financial numbers carefully. 

4. Take risks — Like the world’s best self-made entrepreneurs, Tan is gutsy with calculated risks. He personifies the adage “No guts, no glory.”

5. Innovate — One strategy of Tan’s is his innovating with new ideas and ventures, such as pioneering the concept of “live, work, play, learn” township developments in the Philippines. For example, he converted a former textile mill complex in the Libis area of Quezon City into Eastwood City.

Eastwood also popularized the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is now one of the strengths of the Philippine economy.

Another Tan project is Resorts World Manila, the country’s first 24-hour integrated casino and entertainment complex, which surprised the public and became a popular success.

Not content with pioneering the township concept in Philippine real estate development, Tan is now embarking on his first ever “township by the beach” with The Mactan Newtown. It will be his 10th large-scale township in the Philippines, following the innovative business model for realty development that he pioneered in the 1990s with the 18-hectare Eastwood City.

According to Hernandez, “In the business process outsourcing industry alone, we expect to create 45,000 new jobs here at Mactan Newtown.”

The company is investing P8 billion to build and develop five luxury hotels in this township, with 2,000 new hotel rooms, according to Prestige Hotels & Resorts, Inc. managing director Carmen C. Fernando. Prestige Hotels is the Megaworld subsidiary that will operate the Mactan Belmont Luxury Hotel and Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown brands in this township, along with the existing Megaworld brand of Richmonde Hotel.

“Imagine this as Eastwood City by the sea,” Hernandez said of Mactan Newtown, where Megaworld plans to build a museum dedicated to the earth’s first circumnavigator, Ferdinand Magellan, as well as recreate his Spanish galleon ship Victoria, as an international tourist destination. The township is strategically located beside the historic Mactan Shrine, where the Battle of Mactan between Lapu Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan occurred on April 27, 1521.

At the entrance of The Mactan Newtown is the Hawkers’ Gazebo, a covered food strip similar to Singapore’s famous hawker centers. Set to rise in 2016 is Megaworld’s proposed Newtown School of Excellence, a state-of-the-art educational institution to be supervised by the Lasallian Schools Supervision Office (LASSO).

Another innovation is Tan’s new venture, Tagaytay Twin Lakes, a vineyard and winemaking resort community in the Philippines similar to those in Europe.

6. Be fair — Tan has grown in business through decades of fair dealings, not only with clients and early joint venture partners but also with employees and local communities.

Hernandez says, “When Andrew Tan put me in charge of sales and marketing, he told me this 20 years ago: ‘Noli, you can do anything that you want as long as you are fair.’ He meant I should fair to all: our clients, the employees, everybody. Every day of my life, I think about this advice as my guide.”

7. Be hardworking — All the Megaworld executives say that their boss is an extremely hardworking entrepreneur. They say he’s perpetually working, thinking, analyzing, planning. This immigrant entrepreneur epitomizes the traditional Confucian work ethic.

8. Be humble — Despite reaching the zenith of business success and being one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest billionaire taipans, Andrew Tan has consistently remained courteous, down-to-earth and humble in his ways and demeanor.

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