Manulife vice president and general manager Gigi Mantaring (right) speaks during a press conference to announce that Manulife Business Processing Services (MBPS) will be leasing a building in the Mactan Newtown. With her are Megaworld first vice president Jericho Go (center) and strategic marketing and communications director Harold Geronimo. (Arni Aclao)
DEVELOPER Megaworld projected 45,000 jobs will be generated by its Mactan Newtown project in Lapu-Lapu City in the next five to seven years.
In a press conference yesterday, Megaworld first vice president Jericho P. Go said the company is fast-tracking the construction of its office towers and will be building five to ten more office towers in the township by 2021 to reach the target of 150,000 square meters of office space within the township.
Go said the move is in line with the company’s vision of boosting the BPO industry in Cebu, specifically in Lapu-Lapu City.
“This is the most exciting time for Cebu’s BPO sector because the BPO fever has reached the shores of Mactan,” he said.
Last month, Megaworld topped off the Two World Center, which will be called the Manulife building. It will open for operations in June.
Go told reporters that Manulife Business Processing Services (MBPS) will be leasing the entire building. Part of the agreement is the permission to name the building after the global shared service center arm of Canada-based insurance company Manulife.
The six-storey building will have around 7,000 square meters of office spaces.
MBPS is the first BPO operation of Manulife in Cebu, said Gigi Mantaring, Manulife vice president and general manager. It is expected to generate 1,200 jobs.
MBPS caters to financial services specialties like actuarial, customer service, information technology and underwriting.
Mantaring said the company’s decision to locate in Cebu is in line with its move to “mitigate concentration risk” related to natural disasters. MBPS currently operates in Manila and China.
Mantaring also said the availability of workers for BPO work in Cebu prompted the company to choose it as its next location. She said the company is open to accepting fresh graduates when they become operational.
Manulife will be the third company to establish an operations center in the Mactan Newtown. The first two are Results Manila, which now has 1,200 employees, and Enfra USA, which will be fully operational within this year.
Results Manila and Enfra USA are leasing the One World Center, the first office tower in the township. The three companies, according to Go, are first-time locators in Cebu.
“This is a clear indication that BPO companies are now eyeing Mactan Island as their next hub. The Mactan Newtown is actually setting that direction for this part of the metro,” Go said.
By the second half of this year, the offices at the 8 Newtown Boulevard will also start operations. It will add around 35,000 square meters of office space. Once fully occupied, these office spaces will generate an additional 10,000 jobs.
Megaworld earmarked P20 billion for the development of the Mactan Newtown in the next five to seven years.
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