[ manilastandardtoday.com ] July 13, 2009
By Ferdinand Fabella
At least 58 firms in the business process outsouring sector are based in Taguig City, setting a trend that requires more space for prime locators.
Jeff Minglana, Business Permits and Licenses chief, said the recent opening of a customer service facility of Thomson Reuters in McKinley Hill Cyberpark has put the Fort Bonifacio Global City at the forefront among business districts in Metro Manila offering an ideal place for call center headquarters.
McKinley Hill is part of a 50-hectare commercial and residential village being developed by Megaworld Corp.
“McKinley Hill alone is expected to hit more than 150,000 square meters of BPO space by year end. Add to this e-Square IT Park, the Total Corporate Center as well as Market! Market! and you will easily have the country’s largest concentration of BPO offices. This means more jobs and more opportunities for the city’s residents,” Minglana said.
To meet the demand, he said city planners were eyeing the site of a former bingo parlor that closed shop early this year.
City Hall had decided to shut down Scratch Zone Inc. on March 6 after its three-year business permit expired on Sept. 13 last year.
He said Megaworld’s move suited the strategic direction, with the approval of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, to position Taguig as an investment hub particularly for information and communication ventures.
“We have no casinos or gambling halls in Taguig. Bingo was meant to be a short-term fixture. We were right in our expectations that the city would mature, and the need for office space would be greater,” Minglana said.
Last May, Peza and Taguig signed a memorandum of agreement allowing Peza-registered businesses to shoulder certain local regulatory fees to help offset costs in providing basic services to investors.
Mayor Freddie Tinga said the city government would open more economic zones, amid competition posed by neighboring localities such as Makati, Pasig and Pateros and Rizal province.
Taguig has one IT zone, the e-Square IT Park in Fort Bonifacio, which is home to the Net Group Buildings, Marajo Tower, HSBC Building, Fort Legend, Picadilly Star, Ascendas, Bonifacio e-Services Building and Bonifacio Technology Center.
As the city’s first Peza-registered IT corridor, e-Square hosts international BPOs led by Ventus Vocativ, Allied Telesis, Cormant Technologies, Bit Micro Networks, Stratpoint Technologies, Deutsche Knowledge Services and JP Morgan Chase.
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