Food, agri traders invest in IT

Cebu’s position as the number one Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) destination in the world has prompted food manufacturing and agri-business traders to develop a five-hectare property into an Information Technology (IT) Park.

“This is our first venture into the real estate business involving the IT industry. It’s a good move to diversify our business,” said Albert Go, who partly owns Qimonda Holdings Inc. (QHI), which is now starting an IT Park development at the Don Sergio Osmeña Boulevard, North Reclamation Area (NRA).

Go said the company is now fast tracking its construction of the Qimonda IT Center, which will transform the family-owned property into a commercial area, with an initial investment of P500 million.

Works are underway to register the building with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

Once the project will be realized, Qimonda will be the second largest Cyber Park in Cebu, next to the 24-hectare Asia Town IT Park, developed by the Ayala-led Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation (CPVDC).

The six-story Quimonda IT Center provides a leasable space of about 22,800 square meters. It covers about half a hectare of the entire property, which used to be an idle lot that has been with the Go family for about a decade already.

Go said the company is presently in negotiations with prospective leasers mainly from the outsourcing industry.

Majority of the locators, he said, are BPO companies with operations in Manila but have decided to expand in Cebu, he said.

The ground floor of the IT building will be designed for al fresco dining, recruitment centers and logistics offices, while the second up to the sixth floors will be built for call centers and BPO facilities.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, along with site development features like a taxi and bus terminal and a small park.

Apart from the IT building, condominiums and other recreational buildings and facilities will also be constructed within the property that will supplement the operation of the entire development making it a self-sustaining compound.

Go said the family wanted to change the image of the area, which is located along the international and local ports. The new IT Park, they said, will be similar to the Ayala-led Asiatown IT Park.

“But what differentiates us is our wide leasable spaces and competitive rates,” said Jonas Go, another QHI owner.

Just recently, Global Services-Tholons Study, a reputable magazine in the IT world, released its latest survey result, hailing Cebu as the number emerging BPO destination in the world.

Cebu bested other 50 emerging outsourcing cities in the world that include Shanghai and Beijing in China, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Krakow in Poland, Kolkata, India, and Cairo, Egypt.

Other cities considered by Tholons as emerging outsourcing destination in the world included; Toronto in Canada, Belfast in Ireland, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Moscow in Russia, New Singapore City, ad San Jose in Costa Rica.