The South Road Properties needs better marketing to be known to more foreign and local investors, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
A study commissioned by JICA sought to establish an institutionalized body that will manage the SRP and strengthen its marketing capabilities to attract more investments.
The study is part of JICA’s technical assistance to the SRP-Management Office and the Cebu Investments Promotion Center, the marketing arm of the Cebu City Government, to help the city achieve SRP’s full utilization the earliest possible time.
Last summer, JICA revisited the projects it helped fund in Cebu City including the SRP.
Seeing, there are only few developments made a decade after it was completed, JICA expressed disappointment and concern.
A three-month study was then commissioned by JICA to determine what can be done to finally make SRP what it is originally intended for, to be the center of economic activities in Cebu City and the whole province of Cebu. The study was conducted by Nomura Research Institute, Ltd., which has a branch in Manila.
The study revealed current marketing strategies may not have been very effective since “SRP is not known to potential investors.”
Interviews done by the consultants in Manila, mostly investors in the CALABARZON area, all 17 potential investors answered they do not know of the existence of the SRP.
Some investors may be interested, but, the study said, might have been discouraged by the lack of a clear policy for accommodating locators, the lack of public transport system, lack of developments among others.
Presently, there are only two large investors that have started construction at the SRP, the SM Prime Holdings and Filinvest Land Inc.
The study also mentioned the ordinance passed by the council prohibiting the mayor from negotiating any sale or use of SRP without the city council’s approval, as one of the obstacles.
The output of the study contained a detailed Marketing Plan that the CIPC may use as a guide in marketing the SRP to open it to the world like printing brochures, establishing a website, creating fact sheets, conducting seminars and exploring other new media, among others.
The CIPC is the marketing arm of the city government. Every year, the city allocates funds to assist CIPC in promoting Cebu as an investment hub. —/MIT (FREEMAN)