MANILA, Philippines–Megaworld Corp. has broken ground for its new business park in Iloilo province that will house business process outsourcing (BPO) offices and other commercial establishments to add new jobs in the area.
The company said in a statement issued on Friday that it would invest an initial P2.5 billion over the next two years on the 54-hectare Iloilo Business Park, where residential condominium buildings and hotels will also be built.
The first retail component of the project, Festive Walk, will be completed in the latter part of 2012, after which Megaworld is set to invest more to the development until 2020.
“With our groundbreaking rites today, we affirm the strong business prospects of Iloilo City and the Western Visayas region in particular,” Megaworld chair and CEO Andrew Tan said.
Megaworld is projecting that Iloilo Business Park will fill more than 24,000 seats for the BPO sector, whereas its retail component will infuse more than 200,000 square meters of space for the commercial sector. All in all, Megaworld said it expected to help create about 40,000 new jobs within Iloilo City, thus helping spur the local economy.
Important component
“The Iloilo Business Park is an important component of the BPO triangle I am envisioning that will make the Philippines an exciting and thriving BPO destination worldwide,” Tan said.
The site of the project is the former Iloilo Airport, which Megaworld acquired from the national government in 2007 for P1.2 billion in cash.
“The Iloilo Business Park marks the second leg of our BPO triangle after our two cyberparks in Metro Manila, with the final leg to be launched in the next few years. Together, these will give BPO investors strong prospects not just based on location but the human resource component as well,” the company said in the statement.
The groundbreaking ceremonies for the 12-story Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower mark the first projects to be started within the Iloilo Business Park.
Richmonde Hotel Iloilo is the third project of Megaworld under this hotel brand. The hotel is projected to serve businessmen and who flock annually to witness Iloilo City’s historic and colorful festivals.