A COMBINATION of market forces and the collective effort by the real-estate developers is keeping lease rates down in Metro Cebu, making the area very competitive as it tries to attract locators, especially into its booming offshoring and outsourcing industry.

Francis Monera, president of Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), told the BusinessMirror that prime lease rates in Cebu City is still far lower compared with Makati City, making Metro Cebu a major player in the outsourcing and offshoring (O&O) industry.

“This is where the enterprising values of Cebuanos come in because they [real-estate developers] are all trying to keep the lease rates down to make Cebu, as a whole more competitive,” Monera said.

Prime lease rates in Cebu still hover around P450 to P500 per square meter while Makati City rates are reaching the P800 to P900 levels.

CHI, an affiliate of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), is the developer of Cebu’s business district—Cebu Business Park.

Another affiliate, the Cebu Property Ventures Development Corp. (CPVDC), is developing the Asiatown IT Park.

Despite the skyrocketing costs of construction materials and the slowing domestic and international economy, Monera said construction projects in Cebu are still in full swing and he does not see any lease rate adjustment in the near future.

“The market forces will dictate the prices if there should be any adjustment, but based on our renewals we do not see any indication of an increase,” he said.

CPVDC and ALI’s special purpose unit Asian i-Office Properties Inc., topped off on Friday its 12-floor e-Bloc project inside Asiatown IT Park, the first of several major projects inside the property geared at accommodating the expansion and entry of O&O locators in Cebu.

The other ongoing projects inside Asiatown are the 11-story Skyrise 2, TG Tower with 15 floors and i3 with 17 floors. The three projects combined with e-Bloc will add 50,000 sq m of leasable space to the existing 12,000 sq  m leased space in the property.

CPVDC also opened its lifestyle and food center inside Asiatown called The Walk, which will serve as a support and leisure facility inside the special economic zone.

The Walk will have 18 spaces, which have been fully committed to food and wellness establishments.

Monera said he does not see any indication that the growth in the O&O industry would slow, despite the scheduled presidential elections in the United States in November.

He said while the global economy slows down, more and more companies would find ways to cut their costs on their noncore competencies and would, therefore, find outsourcing a very viable solution.

AN ECONOMIST from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) projects that Filipinos may have already seen the worst of high food and oil prices and would see stable price tags by August and October.

A COMBINATION of market forces and the collective effort by the real-estate developers is keeping lease rates down in Metro Cebu, making the area very competitive as it tries to attract locators, especially into its booming offshoring and outsourcing industry.

UNLESS solid government support backs industry, the outsourcing and offshoring (O&O) road map would hit bumps and sharp curves, a researcher from property broker Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu Inc. said.

HOPING to spur competition among private generation companies to help lower cost of electricity to industrial and commercial users to a comfortable level, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is targeting to pass a resolution on the proposed interim open access (IOA) in the next two months.

TOURISM advocates from the private sector got their much needed political support in their fight to oppose the planned closure of Baguio’s lone airport in Loakan when Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan said he would ask the six other Cordillera lawmakers to join him in opposing the plan.

ZAMBOANGA CITY —Military officials stationed on the island province of Sulu have come up with a concept paper entitled, “Poverty Alleviation through Enhancement of Agri-fishery Cooperatives,” believing that economic development helps achieve lasting peace in a particular place.

THE Philippines is targeting to increase export revenues from rubber by 33 percent to $56 million this year. 

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said industry players are looking to expand the volume of natural rubber production by 10 percent to 450,000 metric tons (MT) this year.