“HERE in Iloilo City, it’s not just ‘business as usual,’ it’s also ‘business unusual,’” said Norman Tabud, the head of the city’s Business Process and Licensing Office (BPLO), highlighting the City of Love’s newest investment tagline.
“‘Unusual’ in the sense na we’ve witnessed unprecedented and rapid growth of the city these past few years, especially in the business sector,” he added.
Tabud says that in this first quarter of 2018 alone, 635 new businesses have applied for business permits at his office – on top of the 14,444 diverse enterprises in Iloilo City that have already renewed their permits in January.
The city BPLO chief attributes the rising number of new businesses to the sudden windfall of investments in Iloilo and the city’s efforts to innovate and lead in term of “ease of doing business.”
In the span of a few years, Iloilo City has streamlined its 27-step business permit application and renewal process, reducing it to only three simple steps. The processing time has been similarly reduced: Business permits can now be obtained after only 30 to 45 minutes, upon submission of completed requirements, when in the past it took around 10 months for the document to be released.
“Before we started streamlining in 2012, naka-lambot ina sing 27 steps with 27 different signatories – unlike now, it’s been made simple and accessible,” explained Tabud. “We believe because of this innovation, madamu gid sing mga businessman ang na-encourage nga mag-register sing ila businesses, and damu sing investors from other parts of the country ang na-enganyo to put up their business here.”
Iloilo City has also received the Blue Certification Level II from the Office of the Ombudsman, showing that the city met 75 out of the 87 standards set in relation to the Ombudsman’s anti-corruption campaign and the Anti-Red Tape Act.
“Ginghatagan gid ina sing attention sing city. From the time of former and now congressman Jerry Treñas, to former mayor Jed Mabilog – who was fully hands-on in streamlining our process – to now under the leadership of Mayor Jose Espinosa III, sige-sige gid ang pagpangita sing paagi nga ma-improve ang business climate sing city,” Tabud furthered.
According to BPLO data, the business sector in the city is made up predominantly of micro-enterprises – around 90 percent of which have an asset size of not more than P3,000,000. The most prevalent type of businesses in the city are in wholesale trade and merchandising, followed by the food and beverage, and hospitality sectors, with real estate and leasing coming in fourth.
With the Ilonggo’s innate love for food and dining – coupled with the city’s improved purchasing power – Iloilo’s food and beverage industry has proven to be the main driver of retail growth in the region.
Restaurants and other food retail outlets, comprised of both home-grown and foreign brands, occupy at least 25 percent of Iloilo’s retail space, according to a study by Colliers Philippines.
“Ilonggos are known to have fondness for food,” said Joey Roi Bondoc, Colliers International research manager, in their quarterly provincial property report. “It reflects on the culture of the province and the city, with its numerous gastronomic destinations and its tasty local delicacies that have endeared it to many a tourist.”
With higher Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) remittances, business process outsourcing employment, and tourist spending in Iloilo City, many Ilonggos have embraced eating out and retail therapy as part of their lifestyle, spurring new growth among businesses in the developing metropolis.
Over the past two years alone, seven new neighborhood malls have opened in Iloilo, as more and more chains tap into the growing purchasing power of the city.
These are DoubleDragon’s CityMall Pavia; Robinsons Place in Jaro; CityMall in Parola; Festive Walk Parade Phase 1 in Iloilo Business Park; and Plazuela Dos, SM City Southpoint, and City Time Square along the busy Benigno Aquino Avenue in Mandurriao.
Colliers expects an additional 98,000 square meters of retail space to be added to the city’s stock between 2018 and 2019, with the completion of Megaworld’s Festive Walk Mall Phases 1 and 2, Vista Land’s Vista Mall in Savannah City, and Robinsons Place Pavia.
The international real estate consulting firm also cited Pavia – a second class municipality – as slowly emerging as an attractive location for retail development.
ILOILO MEANS BUSINESS
Iloilo City is fast becoming one of the emerging havens for trade and investment in the Visayas and the country – and foreign investors are beginning to take notice.
Just this March, the city welcomed the largest delegation of UK businessmen to visit the country outside Metro Manila, for the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines’ (BCCP) trade mission. In the span of a month since then, Iloilo City has been visited by British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce, Consul General Russel Brown of the United States Embassy, and Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar – all amazed by the city’s rapid growth, and highlighting robust investment opportunities in the region.
“We are definitely enjoying the fruits of the city’s investment campaigns,” Lea Lara, executive director of the Iloilo Business Club (IBC), told Panay News.
Among the headway heralding rapid growth cited by Lara are the introduction of new direct flights to and from Iloilo, a resilient public and private partnership, and a strong initiative to establish the city as a premier MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) destination.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has forecasted that the average growth rate in Iloilo and the Visayas region will be higher than the government’s targeted national growth for 2017-2022. The Visayas is seen to boast a 7.7 to 8.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth weight, outpacing the national average of 6 to 7 percent.
“We have branded the city as not just being ‘business as usual,’ but also ‘business unusual,’” said Iloilo City Local Economic Investment and Promotion Office (LEIPO) head Ritchel Gavan.
“‘Unusual’ in the sense that the private sector is keen on supporting efforts and initiatives [that] enable the city in attracting and retaining investors. ‘Business unusual’ because the local government continues to innovate in its aim for unwavering efficiency,” she added.
For 2018, the city BPLO is aiming to register 2,000 new business, and with the current momentum of the private sector, City Hall officials are confident to reach that goal.
“We are also ‘unusual’ in the sense that the local government, despite all the challenges it has faced, the city continues to function with unwavering urgency and compassion to deliver services benefiting its constituents and the people of Iloilo City,” added Gavan.
“Iloilo City’s local economy is here to stay. It is here to compete in the global arena, because Iloilo means business!” she concluded./PN
