Saturday, November 24, 2007 ALI mulls projects to provide more space for BPO firms in major cities
ALTHOUGHl known for its development of big shopping malls in the Philippines, Ayala Land Inc., one of the country’s premier property developers, have iversified a huge part of its investments in building facilities that cater to the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
ALI senior vice president and head for corporate business group Marivic Añonuevo said the company is now in talks with potential partners for BPO building projects in the cities of Bacolod, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
“Information technology (IT) and the BPO industry today is a growing billion-dollar industry worldwide. As one of the major real estate players in the country, we see this as a great opportunity for investment,” she said.
Like its projects in Cebu, Añonuevo said ALI will enter into joint ventures to implement its projects in different cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
She said ALI is going to provide infrastructure support for more BPO facilities in second-tiered cities as the company has already established its presence in major cities like Makati and Cebu.
When asked to comment about ALI’s expansion plans for shopping mall investments within Southern Philippines, Añonuevo said the company is still on the lookout for feasible sites.
She said, though, that ALI wants to focus on addressing the need for more office spaces for the growing BPO industry.
She said this is ALI’s commitment in helping the government raise $10 billion in revenues from the BPO sector by 2010, and generating close to one million jobs in the next three years.
Añonuevo earlier said ALI’s future investments in the sector is intended to triple, in the next five years, the amount of space it will be able to lease nationwide with more diverse locations and product lines.
“Depending on the space and the area, it could be another IT park,” she said.
Añonuevo was in Cebu recently to grace the unveiling of its affiliate’s latest project, the eBloc BPO building, which is now being constructed at the Cebu Asia Town IT Park, by Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (MMM)
