SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) is set to open on Friday the SM City Rosario, its 36th shopping mall in the Philippines and the fourth mall in the province of Cavite.

The firm said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that Cavite is where other SM malls thrive namely SM City Bacoor, SM City Dasmariñas, and SM Center Molino.

SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said, “Rosario is a vibrant municipality in Cavite, a province which we consider to be a high-growth area, being a prominent part of the progressive CALABARZON region.”

He noted that it is a relatively well-off, urban municipality in the province of Cavite and is home to the Cavite Economic Zone.

“Our three existing malls in the province are doing very well. Thus, as we eagerly open the doors of SM City Rosario, we expect it to likewise adequately service the various needs of our loyal customers in Cavite,” Sy said.

The brand new SM Rosario mall, with a gross floor area (GFA) of 52,142 square meters (sqm), is located along General Trias Drive in Barangay Tejeros, Rosario in the province of Cavite. SM City Rosario is the last SM mall to be opened this year.

Its major tenants are SM Supermarket, SM Department Store, Ace Hardware, SM Appliance, and personal care products distributor Watsons.

This year, SM Prime launched SM City Naga, SM Center Las Piñas, SM City Fairview Annex, the Sky Garden at SM City North Edsa, and the extension of SM City Rosales in Pangasinan.

SM Prime said it would open five malls in the Philippines next year, bringing its total shopping malls all over the country to 41.

The company, the Philippines' largest mall developer and operator and owned by the country's richest man Henry Sy, expects to expand the total gross floor area of its malls to 4.7 million square metres by the end of 2010, up 9.3 percent from about 4.3 million at the end of 2008.

SM Prime also operates three malls in China.