PRA ties up with real estate developers

The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) is tying up with the country’s five largest real estate developers to repackage the Philippines as an ideal retirement site which would bring in cumulative foreign exchange earnings of over $40 billion in a span of 10 years and create jobs for four million Filipinos.

In a press conference yesterday PRA chairman (Ret. Police General) Edgardo Aglipay disclosed his five-point strategy to revitalize the PRA and the Philippine retirement industry.

According to Aglipay, the first strategy is to tie up with the real estate companies of the Ayalas, Gokongwei, Gotianun, Sy and Andrew Tan to offer an integrated retirement package for retirees from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Filipino-Americans in the United States, Canada and Europe.

The big five would bring quality housing and offer an integrated approach that would include healthcare and wellness facilities, recreational facilities, security and easy access to transportation.

However, Aglipay assured, the second strategy would also include helping the smaller developers to band together to create more affordable housing as well as integrated communities that would cater to more budget conscious retirees.

The third strategy would involve retooling the PRA to work more closely with the private sector and operate like a private business rather than as a bureaucratic government agency.

The fourth strategy would involve working with the diplomats of the targetted countries to get a better sense or requirements of the retirees.

Lastly, Aglipay said, the PRA would work with other government agencies to provide support and lower the cost to retirees.

In the past, according to PRA deputy general manager Fernando Z. Francisco, the PRA was able to attract only a total of 12,000 retirees since its creation in 1985.

This time around, the PRA, in partnership with the private sector, is targetting at least 837,000 retirees over a 10-year period, representing less than one per cent of the estimated 86 billion people expected to retire over the next 10 years.