Two Megaworld Office Towers Secure Peza Accreditation

By Author: Arra B. Francia
Total Articles: 37
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TWO OFFICE towers by Megaworld Corp. in Laguna have been declared special economic zones for information technology by the government, making businesses operating in the area eligible for special tax incentives.
In a statement issued Monday, Megaworld said President Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed Presidential Proclamation No. 383, designating Southwoods City Office Towers 1 and 2 as special economic zones accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
“Income tax holiday, tax and duty-free importation of raw materials, capital equipment, machineries and spare parts are examples of fiscal incentives while simplified import — export procedures, non-resident foreign nationals may be employed by PEZA-registered enterprises are examples of non-fiscal incentives that we can give to our office tenants in Southwoods office towers,” Megaworld Senior Vice-President Jericho P. Go was quoted as saying.
The Andrew L. Tan-led company noted that no local and national taxes will be charged on businesses operating in an ecozone, except for real property tax which will be paid for by the developer.
Foreigners ...
... with investments in an ecozone may also avail of permanent resident status along with their spouse and children below 21 years old. Benefits likewise include the issuance of working visas renewable every two years for foreigners doing business inside the ecozone.
Southwoods City Office Towers 1 and 2 each have 12 storeys covering a total of around 46,000 square meters of leasable space, which can fit up to 8,000 workers. The towers also have their own basement parking facility.
“The two office towers aim to help multinational companies boost and expand their businesses in Southwoods City. There are a lot of business opportunities in this growing township,” Mr. Go said.
Megaworld will start turning over the office spaces this year.
The office development is located within Megaworld’s 561-hectare Southwoods City township in Biñan, Laguna. This gives employees of the facility access to Southwoods Mall, a hospital, a church, and other recreational hubs, including the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
Property developers have earlier expressed concern over the slowdown in presidential proclamations of PEZA-accredited buildings under Mr. Duterte’s term. Real estate consulting services Pronove Tai International noted that it took the current administration six months to sign a PEZA proclamation, whereas previous administrations took a maximum of two months.
With this, Pronove Tai said P42 billion worth of office investments in the country have been delayed, resulting to delays in take-up from the information technology-business process management sector, as well as increased vacancy in the office sector.
Megaworld’s attributable profit grew 11% to P9.9 billion in the first nine months of 2017, as office developments pushed revenues 5% higher to P35.4 billion during the same period.
Shares in Megaworld lost 22 centavos or 4.31% to close at P4.88 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Source : https://www.bworldonline.com/two-megaworld-office-towers-secure-peza-accreditation/

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