Parañaque projects to provide 10,000 jobs

MANILA, Philippines — Around 10,000 direct and indirect jobs would be opened when the country’s biggest commercial complex and the fifth casino project inside the 100-hectare Entertainment City opens this year and in 2022, officials of the host city said.

Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the entry of Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Ltd. which will build a $1.5-billion resort with a casino in the Philippine capital's entertainment district is a “very positive development for the city in terms of job creation, revenue and tourism.”

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) recently issued a provisional gaming license to Landing International to build the $1.5 billion integrated resort, Nayon Landing.

The facility will feature a casino, an indoor cultural theme park, a water park, Asia's first and largest “indoor movie-based theme park,” a convention center, luxury hotels as well as retail and dining spaces, according to Landing International chairman Yang Zhihui.

Landing also operates the Jeju Shinhwa World casino resort in Jeju, South Korea.

The new addition will be the fifth casino resort project in the Philippines’ downsized version of the Las Vegas Strip. A groundbreaking ceremony has been set for Aug. 7.

Entertainment City, a 120-hectare area of reclaimed land, currently houses three integrated resorts – Bloomberry’s Solaire Resort and Casino, Melco’s City of Dreams Manila and Universal Entertainment’s Okada Manila. Malaysian developer Genting is also developing a resort, dubbed Westside City Resorts World.

"This investment is an ideal opportunity for us to strategically expand Landing's footprint into Southeast Asia, hence taking a major step toward Landing International's aspiration to be a leading premium integrated resort operator in the region," said Yang.

“Nayon Landing will be able to leverage on the growing brand equity in Jeju Shinhwa World to attract more Koreans and tourists in the region to visit the Philippines,” Yang added.

For his part, Olivarez said they are now on track to meeting the city’s targeted revenue that could amount to more than P6 billion soon when Ayala Malls, the country’s largest commercial complex, opens this year and Nayon Landing, opening by 2022.

City administrator Ding Soriano said the city government can also raise enough funds to finance infrastructure projects and their commitments on education, health, and other forms of social services without increasing its taxes.

Soriano said the hotel and casinos will not only generate income for the city and tourism revenues, but will likewise generate jobs for city residents, as the law stipulates that they comprise as least 40 percent of the workforce of new establishments.

He added the city now has savings of P3.9 billion due to growing businesses in the gaming complex.

City officials also expressed optimism that Parañaque will attract more investments in 2019 following a recent sisterhood agreement with the city of Haeundae in South Korea and the City of Carson in California, USA.