By: Jaimie Rose R. Aberia
The city of Manila is expecting a better business climate for the year 2018 as thousands of new businesses are expected to open by January.
Bureau of Permits said that aside from the new businesses, 45,000 more will renew their permits and licenses, generating P300 million in fees alone.
“This is a manifestation of confidence in the city and there are a lot who want to invest here,” Bureau of Permits director Fortune Mayuga said in an interview.
“You can see that there are a lot of banks, restaurants, the small- and medium-size establishments, and also call centers,” he noted.
Ten big business process outsourcing (BPO) firms have recently opened in Manila, she added.
Mayuga cited Malate, Sta. Ana, and Sampaloc as some of the areas that have been experiencing business boom in the past few years.
Since 2014, more new business establishments opened up in Manila, resulting in a steady increase of income from taxes and business fees, according to Mayuga.
In 2015, there were 6,743 new businesses in the city, and 9,165 in 2016, she said.
Overall, there were a total of 54,242 new and renewed Mayor’s Permits that were issued in 2016 compared to about 53,000 in the previous year, Mayuga added.
“Last year, our office had a 10 to 15 percent increase in income, so we can say that business must be good here in Manila because investors keep coming,” the Bureau of Permit chief said.
Aside from regular businesses such as restaurants, hotels, condominiums, stores and shops, among others, Mayuga bared that local and international banks such as BDO, BPI, Metrobank, and Chinabank put up more branches in the city recently.
In the last three years, Mayuga added several big BPO firms also opened up in Manila when in the past years, they are concentrated in the cities of Makati, Taguig, and Pasig.