MANILA, Philippines - The Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the central business district of Taguig City is poised to emerge as the country’s premier business hub as more and more businesses have chosen to relocate their hubs of operations there, the Taguig City government said yesterday.
According to the Taguig City government, top national and multinational corporations have already transferred their operations at the BGC such as the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Meanwhile, some national agencies such as the Supreme Court, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Insurance Commission (IC) have also bared plans to relocate their offices to BGC.
Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano has welcomed the influx of new partners into the city and the BGC, which she said is an “undeniable sign” of a growing consensus that investor confidence is at a high in Taguig.
"The plan of the country’s top business regulators to follow suit and relocate to Taguig is an affirmative vote of confidence to a fast-rising, high-flying new premier financial center in the country that is BGC," Mayor Cayetano said.
Cayetano said investor confidence is buoyed by the city’s business model of no corruption, lower taxes, better business policies and no “number coding” for vehicles.
“Here in Taguig, we always get a vote of confidence from businesses, who we consider partners in development. We treat them with respect, the highest form of which is to show them that the taxes they paid really go to the people of Taguig,” she said.
Some of the top businesses that have already relocated to Taguig include Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc., its foundation Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines Inc. and Eastwest Bank.
The BGC is now also home to big companies like Smartmatic Philippines Inc., Manila Water Company Inc., Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corporation, General Electric Philippines Inc., Hewlett-Packard AP LTD- Phil., Sony Philippines Inc., Sun Life Corporation and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Limited.
Even prominent law firms like Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz (ACCRA Law) and Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco (CVC Law) are now located in Taguig.
Premier schools such as the University of the Philippines and the De La Salle University will also soon open separate campuses at the BGC.
Earlier, the World Bank recognized Taguig as one of the best places in the country to do business in. In the institution’s most recent Ease of Doing Business study, Taguig ranked first among the cities in Metro Manila to have the easiest and least number of processes of putting up a business, besting richer and older cities.