Legazpi City is ready for business
Jemain Diaz de Rivera
Committee Member at BSP Technical Committee on Business Process Management
I had the opportunity to speak during the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Innovation Forum 2016 in Legazpi City, Albay. Legazpi City was promoting information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) careers. The event was graced by Secretary Rodolfo Salalima of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City, Rep. Hose Clemente Salceda of Albay, Gov. Al Francis Bichara of Albay and President Rosemarie Quinto-Rey of the Albay ICT Association.
Heading the career talks on IT-BPM were Penny Bongato of the IT and Business Process Association Philippines (Ibpap), Zeth Dayao of the Philippine Software Information Association, Alvin Juban of the Game Development Association Philippines and Rene Misa of the Animation Council of the Philippines.
Legazpi City is now a center of tourism, education, health services, commerce and transportation.
Mayon Volcano is one of the Philippines’s most popular icons and tourist destinations. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry previously recognized Legazpi as the most business-friendly city in Southern Luzon. In 2013 the city was ranked 11th among the most competitive cities in the country. In 2014 it was rated second among the top 3 livable cities in the country by the National Competitiveness Council and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
The city government was recognized by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council as a model locality in implementing risk- reduction management practices. The city is a major economic hub in the Bicol region. Economic activities in the city include agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, services, manufacturing and mining. Major sources of income include rice, root crops and coconut. The city exports coconut oil, copra cake, perlite and abaca products.
Legazpi also has a fast-growing tourism industry focusing on adventure tourism. They are promoting Legazpi as an ideal location for the IT-BPM industry. In 2014 Legazpi’s locally generated income reached P338.2 million, with total income (including individual retirement account) at P711.1 million.
There were 5,055 business establishments in Legazpi as of 2014. Most of these are in the city’s central business district, the Legazpi Port District. Landco Business Park, the first master-planned commercial business district in the Bicol region, opened in 2001.
To further boost the local economy, the city government is promoting the establishment of information-technology parks and industrial estates, such as the Embarcadero IT Park, and the City Light Industrial Park, Legazpi City Special Economic Zone, Bicol Regional Agro-Industrial Center and First Legazpi Industrial Estate.
Legazpi’s urban lifestyle is slowly modernizing, with several shopping centers, like the Pacific Mall Legazpi, LCC Mall, Liberty City Center, Yashano Mall and Bichara Silverscreens and Entertainment Center.
The city has also attracted investments from national retail chains, including Metro Gaisano, SM Savemore, Robinsons Supermarket, Puregold, 7-Eleven, Ayala Malls and SM Supermalls.
Legazpi is recognized as one of the “next wave cities” for the IT-BPM industry. The next wave cities are ICT hubs outside Metro Manila identified by Ibpap and the Department of Science and Technology. Legazpi is attracting more IT-BPM firms to put up offices in the city.
The city currently has one IT park, the Embarcadero IT Park, which offers about 8,000 call-center seats that could provide jobs to some 24,000 agents in three shifts. Pioneering the business in the city is the Incubation Center of Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation Inc., which is an extension of Embarcadero’s P1.8-billion IT Park that is the very first IT eco zone in the Bicol region. The biggest locator in Embarcadero IT Park is Sutherland Global Services.
Legazpi is a center of education in the Bicol region. It is home to two universities (Bicol University and Aquinas University of Legazpi) and a number of colleges and technical-vocational schools.
The training and teaching health institutions in Legazpi include Ago General Hospital, Albay Doctors Hospital, Albay Polyclinic, Aquinas University Hospital, Bicol Eye Center, Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital, Dr. Esteban V. Ante Hospital, Estevez Memorial Hospital, Legazpi Eye Center, Suncore Multispecialty and Diagnostic Clinic, Tanchuling Hospital.
Legazpi aims to reach its target of 900,000 tourist arrivals through adventure tourism with the tagline “City of Fun and Adventure,” with a number of activities within the city, including riding an all-terrain vehicle around Mount Mayon, zip-lining, skydiving, scuba diving and water sports.
Both Mayor Rosal and Secretary Salalima recognized the urgency of improving the Internet connectivity and access to help an emerging city become a center of excellence.