Vol. XXII, No. 85-A [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Saturday, November 22, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
BY KRISTINE JANE R. LIU, Reporter
AYALA LAND, Inc. may bid for the development of a 90-hectare property of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, which is envisioned to become the country’s version of Silicon Valley.
"Ayala Land will be very interested in the remaining two phases. We recognize Quezon City as a very important area to the country’s economic growth," Jaime Ayala, president and chief executive officer of Ayala Land, said on Friday.
Ruperto T. Alonso, director of the UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries, said they expect to finish the terms of reference for the bidding next year.
He said the second phase of the project involves developing the area into a biotechnology park, while the third phase entails building an education and communication park.
Ayala Land and UP inaugurated the first phase on Friday. The P6-billion UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub project is a low-rise campus development along Commonwealth Ave. inside the UP Diliman Campus in Quezon City.
The project will sit on a 38-hectare area and will house 10 four-storey buildings, six of which will be completed this year and offer a gross leasable area of almost 70,000 square meters. The remaining four buildings are expected to be finished next year.
In a speech during the inauguration of the techno hub, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the facility was crucial to the government’s aim of using technology to promote economic development.
"The UP-Ayala Land techno hub is one giant step to bring the country closer to the goal we declared in 2001 of making technology the foundation of our economic development," she said.
"This is an important step together with the P3 billion that the government is investing in research and development, manpower development, and the P1 billion that we put in the national budget for UP to build its own science and technology complex," she added.
The President said the facility’s locators would be able to provide employment amid the uncertainties brought about by an ongoing financial crisis in the US and Europe.
"I have instructed the Commission on Information and Communication Technology to make a technical study on the resources needed to transform every province in the country, to be an [information and communication technology] enabler," Mrs. Arroyo said.
The buildings will be available to companies in information technology. "We seek to attract firms providing backroom operations to the West, as well as science and technology businesses with a global potential," said Marivic Añonuevo, head of AyalaLand Businesscapes.
To date, Ms. Añonuevo said, the company has attracted business process outsourcing companies like IBM Business Solutions, Pointwest Technologies, software developer SeaChange, and the outsourcing facilities of Manulife and HSBC.
She said about 35,000 people will be given jobs once the UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub project is completed. — with Alexis Douglas B. Romero
