ILOILO City – This city caught the eye of a consulting firm as the next investment center for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector.
“The robust demand for BPO office space is changing the landscape of a number of cities. Pinnacle Research cited industry sources who are now gearing up for the “next 10 cities.’ With the push of President Rodrigo Duterte to disperse spending and growth, development of these ‘next 10 markets’ is likely to happen sooner,” the company stated in its Market Insight for the third quarter.
Pinnacle Research cited the following cities: Baguio, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Lipa, Metro Bulacan (Baliuag, Calumpit, Malolos City, Marilao and Meycauayan City), Metro Cavite (Bacoor City, Dasmariñas City and Imus City), Metro Laguna (Calamba City, Los Baños and Sta. Rosa City), Metro Naga (Naga City and Pili), and Metro Rizal (Antipolo City, Cainta and Taytay).
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the citation affirmed the city’s growing reputation as an ideal investment destination boosted by a big pool of manpower, conducive business climate, competitive cost, best built infrastructure, established utilities, peace and order, local tax incentives, streamlined permit processing, and good governance.
Iloilo City was recognized as a “Center of Excellence for Information Technology – Business Process Management” (IT-BPM) operations by the IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP).
BPO companies are choosing healthy demographics and relatively developed infrastructures as key criteria, Pinnacle said.
Apart from office spaces, these markets would probably experience developments of residential and commercial-retails spaces, and perhaps, hotel rooms as well, it added.
The new IT-BPM Roadmap 2017-2022 is scheduled to be made public by October.
While the industry in the past decade had been phenomenal, experts said the growth in the next five years would range between 12 to 18 percent, or two to three times the world’s average of 6 percent annually.
Buoyed by this continuous growth, real estate developers are relentless in building and delivering office spaces. It is still a landlord’s market, and given the low vacancy, rents have been increasing and albeit plateauing in recent months. The initial fear of softening rents may still be averted due to brisk demand, the realty advisor stated.
Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services, Inc. provides a full range of services to buyers, real estate lenders and investors with a team of experienced professionals dedicated to enhancing the value of clients’ investments throughout the Philippines. (Iloilo City PIO/PN)
Source: Panaynews | September 26, 2016
