|
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has
endorsed to the Office of the President the accreditation of One
Asia Business Center, a multimillion-peso development in Biñan,
Laguna, as an information technology (IT) park.
An IT park provides
infrastructures and other support facilities required by IT
enterprises, as well as amenities required by professionals and
workers.
Victor H. Manarang, president and
CEO of the Extraordinary Group of Companies, said the first phase of
the project is an IT park that will provide facilities for foreign
and domestic locators involved in information and communication
technology services such as call centers, business process
outsourcing, medical transcription, multimedia, web design, and
Internet services.
One Asia Business Center was
prequalified as an IT park after meeting stringent PEZA requirements
such as establishing a high-speed fiber-optic telecommunication
backbone and high-speed international gateway facility or wide-area
network (WAN) or any high-speed data telecommunication system that
may become available in the future; and clean, uninterrupted power
supply.
Once the presidential
proclamation is issued, One Asia Business Center’s IT locators
will be entitled to a four- to six-year income tax holiday. After
which, it has the option to pay a special 5-percent tax on gross
income earned from locator IT enterprises and related operations, in
lieu of all national and local taxes, except real property taxes on
land.
It will also be exempted from
payment of import duties and taxes on imported machinery and
equipment and raw materials and enjoy additional deduction
equivalent to 50 percent of training expenses.
One Asia Business Center is
conveniently located within Jubilation New Biñan making it highly
accessible to Metro Manila through two major highways—South Luzon
Expressway (SLEX) thru Mamplasan Exit and National Highway.
Manarang said the project
involves the setting up of a fiber-optic telecommunication
system, wide roads, parking spaces, walkways for pedestrians, a
multimodal transport terminal, an effective drainage system,
electric utilities, an underground water distribution system,
lighting poles and water feature, and other facilities and amenities
that will provide a park-like setting at the heart of the business
center.
Locators in the project will have
access to a qualified workforce and consumers in the towns of Biñan,
San Pedro and Sta. Rosa in Laguna and the town of Carmona in Cavite.
Among the prospective locators
for the IT park are software development companies, call centers,
medical transcription companies, business process outsourcing firms,
web design teams, computer schools, IT consultants, multimedia and
graphics designers, data processing companies, and other IT-related
service providers.
One Asia Business Center offers
lot sizes of 600 square meters priced at around P8.9 million and
retail lots of 200 to 300 square meters at P3 million to P8 million.
|
