Manila to welcome first IT park
With the lifting of the moratorium on new economic zones in Metro Manila, the country’s capital could soon welcome its first information technology (IT) park, potentially drawing more high-value investments into the city.
According to Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Tereso Panga, e-commerce marketing agency Star Digital Solutions is already preparing requirements to seek accreditation for what could become the first Peza-registered IT park in the City of Manila.
Star Digital is headquartered at the 16-story Manila Ecommerce Center in San Miguel, Manila.
“They want to be accredited as an artificial intelligence academy of Peza, so we’re collaborating,” Panga told reporters last week.
While the company has yet to submit a formal application, the Peza chief expressed confidence that the project would push through.
“This is for sure. A first in Manila,” Panga said.
The proposed development forms part of Peza’s pipeline of about three to five IT parks seeking registration in Metro Manila after the government lifted in late July a Duterte-era ban that had barred the establishment of new ecozones in the capital region.
Other projects Peza is counting on include developments in Arca South in Taguig, Bridgetowne in Ortigas and a Yuchengco-backed innovation hub in Makati.
Metro Manila currently has 178 Peza-registered IT parks and centers hosting 1,072 locator companies that collectively employ more than 740,000 Filipinos.
Panga said IT parks that hurdle the necessary clearances and secure Peza registration would eventually form part of the agency’s pipeline of new ecozones it hopes to certify in 2026.
Peza earlier targeted 30 new ecozones for the year.
Panga said about 20 have so far been approved by President Marcos, with more projects still in the pipeline.
“If we can get 20 and more, that should be good enough,” he said.
Locating in Peza-accredited buildings can be a key consideration for many businesses because it gives them access to fiscal and nonfiscal incentives.
Domestic market enterprises in Metro Manila, for instance, may qualify for an income tax holiday of four to six years and enhanced deductions for five years.
Developers of the IT parks themselves, however, are not entitled to Peza fiscal incentives.
Metro Manila remains the country’s “primary gateway” for IT-BPM firms expanding into the Philippines, recording about 70 percent of IT-BPM office transactions in the first quarter, according to property consultancy Colliers.
