Posted on 09:35 PM, October 06, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
CENTURY PROPERTIES, Inc. has signed a deal with a General Electric (GE) unit to build a $100-million medical outpatient and information technology (IT) building in Makati, riding on the boom in medical tourism.
The local real estate firm and GE Healthcare, a $17-billion unit of GE based in the United Kingdom, inked a memorandum of understanding last Sept. 23 in New York as part of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino’s visit to the United States. The deal was announced by Century Properties only yesterday.
The 30-storey medical building, which will have doctors’ clinics, minor surgery facilities, and “post-recovery” suites, will rise inside a one-hectare IT park at the 3.4-hectare Century City mixed-use development project beside Kalayaan Avenue in Makati.
The IT park is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, which entitles locators to tax perks and other investment incentives.
“The project is expected to generate 3,000 jobs during its construction and 5,000 jobs upon the start of operations, which is estimated to be in the latter part of 2013 or early 2014,” said Century Properties, the country’s largest privately held property developer.
Century Properties will be the developer of the building, while GE Healthcare will provide equipment. GE will also provide value-added services such as training and development.
“As a state-of-the-art outpatient medical arts building, the project is envisioned to have the latest technology and equipment that will enable doctors to practice their disciplines with great ease, as well as provide fast and convenient services to local patients and medical tourists,” Century Properties said.
The building will also have diagnostic equipment and services, rooms for aesthetic procedures, cafés and restaurants; and spaces for service providers in health, wellness and preventive medicine.
The deal was signed by Century Properties Chairman Jose E.B. Antonio and John Rice, GE Technology Infrastructure vice-chairman and chief executive officer, in the presence of Mr. Aquino, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, and GE Vice-President and Senior Counsel Karan Bhatia.
GE recently launched a $250-million equity fund that will invest in companies globally for diagnostic, IT, and life science technologies.
“We are optimistic that this assistance of providing advanced medical equipment, best practices and technological solutions will not only boost medical tourism in the Philippines, but also improve the standards of outpatient medical services in the country and make this accessible to more people,” said Mr. Rice.
Mr. Antonio said the project would help promote the Philippines as a top medical tourism destination.
Century Properties noted that the medical tourism sector already has some 30 member hospitals, clinics, wellness centers, and resorts, with gross revenues of $350 million since 2006.
“By 2015, the Department of Tourism expects a $3-billion profit, with as much as one million foreign patients arriving annually,” it said, adding that competent medical practitioners and medical treatments costing as low as 70% compared with other Asian countries were some of the country’s advantages.
The 24-year-old Century Properties has more than 60 projects in its portfolio.
Unit Century City Development Corp. will develop the 3.4-hectare Century City in Makati, which will have luxury residential towers and a retail center aside from the one-hectare IT park. Century Properties took over the Makati lot after winning a government bidding four years ago.
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