LEGAZPI: THE NEXT “WAVE CITY” FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Legazpi City, the Regional Administrative Center of the Bicol Region, the capital city and the center for trading and commerce of the Province of Albay, is now one of the Philippines’ Regional Hubs for Information and Communications Technology. This recognition has been conferred with the city after it has been showcased in the Philippines’ Next Wave Cities during the 8th E-Services Philippines (ESP) Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition 2008 last February 11-12 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.
Along with 14 other Regional IT Hubs dubbed as “Next W ave Cities” in the county, Legazpi City has been pre-selected as a location of IT excellence based on the presence of an established ICT Council (Albay ICT Association, Inc.) in the locality and the favorable score it garnered on the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) IT scorecard.
As a participant in the ESP 2008, Legazpi City has earned enough positive and remarkable gains. The 10-minute presentation of Hon. Mayor Noel Rosal in the Regional IT Hubs Forum provided him the opportunity to present the advantages of the City in terms of manpower and infrastructure readiness and thereby selling it as a location of choice for ICT-enabled investments and projects to potential investors and locators.
In the two-day exhibition, the City Government featured the Embarcadero IT Park, a PEZA-declared private IT Park located at the Legazpi Port Area. The IT Park is the city’s major development project being offered to interested investors and locators. It attracted a significant number of visitor-inquiries which was followed by actual site visits a week after the affair. Negotiations between interested locators and investors and the embarcadero management are on-going.
The ESP participation did not only benefit the Embarcadero IT Park as the focus of the promotional effort. Some of the 40 delegates from Albay (who happened to be the biggest delegation to the ESP 2008) particularly the home grown Business Process Outsourcing companies also got a share in the gains. One participant with a Call Center company even negotiated for accounts from two US-based companies namely Freeway and AT & T. Representatives of these companies have already conducted site visits and inspections of the facilities of their local partners. Impressed by the local technical capabilities, the foreign companies have decided to activate their accounts with the local partner and operations are now in full swing generating close to 50 jobs and counting.
It can be recalled that prior to Legazpi City’s participation in the ESP 2008, local ICT advocates and stakeholders have been actively advocating and implementing local initiatives and projects to develop the growth and development of the local ICT Industry.
One such initiative is the giving of a more focused industry development effort by the Department of Trade and Industry. In consultation with the Local Government Unit of Legazpi and other stakeholders, the ICT-ENABLED SERVICES has been chosen as the City’s One-Town-One Product (OTOP) under the program. With manpower as its major resource, being the center of Education not only of Albay but of the Bicol Region as well, the city produces 6,000 plus qualified and trainable manpower pool, a major requirement of IT investors.
Another worth mentioning is the very dynamic organization of local ICT advocates and stakeholders, the Albay ICT Association, Inc. (AICTA), formed in year 2003. The association is actively partnering with the Local Government Units of Albay and the different National Government Agencies (NGAs) in implementing various activities and projects for ICT development in the province.
Aware of the significant benefits the ICT industry would provide to the city particularly in generating employment and investments, the City Government has amended its Investment and Incentive Code to attract new investments from the industry. It now includes new Priority Development and Investment Areas in the Urban Center specifically ICT-enabled and other Service-oriented projects. It also provides New Incentives both to Existing and New Investors. These incentives are in addition to the ones being given by PEZA, BOI and other incentive-giving entities.
Added to these incentives is the very dynamic, supportive and ICT advocate and marketer Chief Executive of the City. Mayor Noel Rosal is personally on top of all ICT-related initiatives and activities of the City. In fact, in order to ensure that the city can provide the required manpower requirement, the Mayor has put up a fund to finance the study now pay later program for qualified students-trainees who would undergo short-term ICT-related courses/trainings such as call center agents, medical transcription and the like.
As a consequence of these activities and initiatives, several tangible milestones have been achieved so far which would further support and strengthen Legazpi City’s campaign to attract more ICT investments and projects.
To-date, there are already eight BPO companies operating in the City. These include four Call Centers; one of which was opened only last February 8, 2008, two data conversion and processing companies, one medical transcription and one doing engineering and architectural designs development. These companies provide employment to more than 2,000 IT professionals and workers.
The projected upsurge in demand for commercial space by prospective IT locators in the city has convinced a local investor to develop a sea-front property into an IT Park, the Embarcadero IT Park. The park is a master planned PEZA-declared IT Park that costs P 700 million which will provide 15, 477 sq.m. of IT-ready space to would-be locators and investors. The Park is an integral part of the Embarcadero de Legazpi, a world-class destination lifestyle and entertainment center in bay front development in the Philippines located at the Legazpi Port Area and is set to be opened on August 8, 2008.
With all the industry requirements in place, TALENTS, INFRASTRUCTURES, LOWER COST OF DOING BUSINESS AND A FAVORABLE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, Legazpi City is ready to welcome and accommodate IT locators and investors alike.
Legazpi City, the Regional Administrative Center of the Bicol Region, the capital city and the center for trading and commerce of the Province of Albay, is now one of the Philippines’ Regional Hubs for Information and Communications Technology. This recognition has been conferred with the city after it has been showcased in the Philippines’ Next Wave Cities during the 8th E-Services Philippines (ESP) Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition 2008 last February 11-12 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.
Along with 14 other Regional IT Hubs dubbed as “Next W ave Cities” in the county, Legazpi City has been pre-selected as a location of IT excellence based on the presence of an established ICT Council (Albay ICT Association, Inc.) in the locality and the favorable score it garnered on the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) IT scorecard.
As a participant in the ESP 2008, Legazpi City has earned enough positive and remarkable gains. The 10-minute presentation of Hon. Mayor Noel Rosal in the Regional IT Hubs Forum provided him the opportunity to present the advantages of the City in terms of manpower and infrastructure readiness and thereby selling it as a location of choice for ICT-enabled investments and projects to potential investors and locators.
In the two-day exhibition, the City Government featured the Embarcadero IT Park, a PEZA-declared private IT Park located at the Legazpi Port Area. The IT Park is the city’s major development project being offered to interested investors and locators. It attracted a significant number of visitor-inquiries which was followed by actual site visits a week after the affair. Negotiations between interested locators and investors and the embarcadero management are on-going.
The ESP participation did not only benefit the Embarcadero IT Park as the focus of the promotional effort. Some of the 40 delegates from Albay (who happened to be the biggest delegation to the ESP 2008) particularly the home grown Business Process Outsourcing companies also got a share in the gains. One participant with a Call Center company even negotiated for accounts from two US-based companies namely Freeway and AT & T. Representatives of these companies have already conducted site visits and inspections of the facilities of their local partners. Impressed by the local technical capabilities, the foreign companies have decided to activate their accounts with the local partner and operations are now in full swing generating close to 50 jobs and counting.
It can be recalled that prior to Legazpi City’s participation in the ESP 2008, local ICT advocates and stakeholders have been actively advocating and implementing local initiatives and projects to develop the growth and development of the local ICT Industry.
One such initiative is the giving of a more focused industry development effort by the Department of Trade and Industry. In consultation with the Local Government Unit of Legazpi and other stakeholders, the ICT-ENABLED SERVICES has been chosen as the City’s One-Town-One Product (OTOP) under the program. With manpower as its major resource, being the center of Education not only of Albay but of the Bicol Region as well, the city produces 6,000 plus qualified and trainable manpower pool, a major requirement of IT investors.
Another worth mentioning is the very dynamic organization of local ICT advocates and stakeholders, the Albay ICT Association, Inc. (AICTA), formed in year 2003. The association is actively partnering with the Local Government Units of Albay and the different National Government Agencies (NGAs) in implementing various activities and projects for ICT development in the province.
Aware of the significant benefits the ICT industry would provide to the city particularly in generating employment and investments, the City Government has amended its Investment and Incentive Code to attract new investments from the industry. It now includes new Priority Development and Investment Areas in the Urban Center specifically ICT-enabled and other Service-oriented projects. It also provides New Incentives both to Existing and New Investors. These incentives are in addition to the ones being given by PEZA, BOI and other incentive-giving entities.
Added to these incentives is the very dynamic, supportive and ICT advocate and marketer Chief Executive of the City. Mayor Noel Rosal is personally on top of all ICT-related initiatives and activities of the City. In fact, in order to ensure that the city can provide the required manpower requirement, the Mayor has put up a fund to finance the study now pay later program for qualified students-trainees who would undergo short-term ICT-related courses/trainings such as call center agents, medical transcription and the like.
As a consequence of these activities and initiatives, several tangible milestones have been achieved so far which would further support and strengthen Legazpi City’s campaign to attract more ICT investments and projects.
To-date, there are already eight BPO companies operating in the City. These include four Call Centers; one of which was opened only last February 8, 2008, two data conversion and processing companies, one medical transcription and one doing engineering and architectural designs development. These companies provide employment to more than 2,000 IT professionals and workers.
The projected upsurge in demand for commercial space by prospective IT locators in the city has convinced a local investor to develop a sea-front property into an IT Park, the Embarcadero IT Park. The park is a master planned PEZA-declared IT Park that costs P 700 million which will provide 15, 477 sq.m. of IT-ready space to would-be locators and investors. The Park is an integral part of the Embarcadero de Legazpi, a world-class destination lifestyle and entertainment center in bay front development in the Philippines located at the Legazpi Port Area and is set to be opened on August 8, 2008.
With all the industry requirements in place, TALENTS, INFRASTRUCTURES, LOWER COST OF DOING BUSINESS AND A FAVORABLE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, Legazpi City is ready to welcome and accommodate IT locators and investors alike.
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