10 reasons why Cebu should become the tech hub of the Philippines.
What do all the top tech hubs in the world have in common? The key consistency amongst them all is seemingly livability coupled with a high degree of readiness to do business. If you look at the top 10 or even 20 tech hubs in the world today these are all cities that have great qualities of life and support commercial efficiency.
San Francisco, San Jose, New York, London, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Singapore et al are all great cities with infrastructures to match. Well designed and good looking with shiny new buildings, a high proliferation of talent, lots of recreational and entertainment options and excellent infrastructure.
Manila, as the capital of the Philippines, naturally sees the majority of the country’s business conducted there. It is the financial and trading epicentre, by far the most populous and is rich with many of the best educational institutions and talent. Sheer volume has meant that the still fledgling tech startup community has started to grow up there. Incubators, co-working hubs and both foreign and domestic investment are indeed centered around Metro Manila.
What we can also categorically say about Manila, is that it has one of the worst qualities of life anywhere in the world. Statistically the worst traffic, rife with pollution, crime, drugs and with almost no green space or leisure provision and arguably one of the worst livability indices it oozes everything that the global startup cities are not.
Manila is by anyone’s measure, not a desirable location. Even Filipinos are tired of the traffic, pollution, and poor infrastructure. It’s absolutely not uncommon to hear of people commuting 2–3 hours each way each day in the back of a boiling hot jeepney, breathing in toxic fumes. Journeys, by the way, that are often not much more than 5–10 miles. Escaping this suppressive environment at the weekends also means hours stuck in traffic often on the way to somewhere were the rest of Metro Manila have also decided to go. It’s virtually inescapable unless you fly and even then the utter nightmare of Ninoy Aquino Airport sends shivers down the spine of most.
So should Filipino’s, entrepreneurs and the government be looking elsewhere to establish the nation’s true official tech hub? A true breeding ground and desirable location for the countries tech revolution to evolve and continue to grow rapidly as the country enjoys its sustained period of long overdue economic growth.
If the success of other global locations is anything to go by they should. Tech startup talent tends to be more free spirited. They shun corporate ways and are ultimately seeking a better quality of life both inside and outside the workplace.
Startup ecosystems are built from the ground up by the communities that inhabit them. This is usually eventually underpinned by private investment and government supported initiatives but the essence of creativity comes from free-spirited youth with a point to prove, a problem to solve and the energy to see it through.
It’s also worth considering that global companies looking to set up in the Philippines will look at where the majority of the talent is but will also assess how easy it’s going to be to attract the talent they need from outside the country. Any startup founder knows that attracting top talent solely from the domestic market is tricky especially when competing against large established companies from the same pool.
So, if not Manila, where should the tech hub of the Philippines look to grow and what characteristics should this place have?
The Philippines is in its finest hour right now. The economy is booming and is seen as somewhat of a testing ground for innovative new companies entering the Asian market. With 100m young, English speaking tech junkies with incredibly high mobile penetration so it should. A progressively proactive youth are reimagining their futures and trans-generational poverty is slowly giving way to an upwardly mobile middle class and creative youthful spirit. A new government with sensible ideas to reduce crime and corruption has also just been inaugurated. Being essentially at the foundation of this journey means the Philippines has not yet experienced the renaissance and birth of majestic world cities say of Europe of example. However, this does not need to happen over hundreds of years like London but can happen in the space of a generation as proven by Singapore and Dubai. If government lifts foreign investment restrictions, allows international companies to compete and concurrently gets domestic policy right whilst overcoming the problems with implementation we’ll see this happen. Great cities will be born, infrastructure will improve and life will get better for many millions of and hopefully all Filipinos.
As things currently stand the city that best reflects what a true tech hub might stem from is Cebu City. The Queen City of the south is the second largest metropolitan area in the country and should be at the centre of everyone’s thinking. Already a major BPO centre, second only to Manila and 7th globally, Cebu has the edge over Manila for a multitude of reasons. Here are 10 of them:
1. Rapid Growth
The Philippines is the fastest growing economy in Asia and Cebu is the fastest growing City in the Philippines. Needless to say, this presents an opportunity. Investment is pouring in there is a real buzz around Cebu and that is exactly what’s needed to fuel the creative spirit required for the type of disruptive thinking that shapes so many startup successes.
2. Better Traffic
It’s bad like most cities in the Philippines. There is no escaping this but it’s much much much better than Manila. Metro Cebu average speeds in the major roads are now measured at 11 km per hour compared to five km per hour in EDSA. This may not sound like a lot but it really is and luckily the current mayor along with the President and other officials have notionally agreed that executive powers are needed to solve the problem in Cebu as well as Manila. As such the planned road widening, the building of dozens of new flyovers and progressive traffic enforcement will be expedited to improve things further.
3. Lower Cost of Living
Unlike many countries, the cost of living does not vary wildly between the capital and other cities in the Philippines. However Cebu is undoubtedly cheaper than Manila and this can only be a good thing for bootstrapped entrepreneurs looking to keep costs down whilst they build their business. Over time the cost of living will increase as it has done in places like Singapore but this is a sign of progress and so ultimately beneficial.
4. Premium commercial and residential options
Cebu’s IT Park and Business Parks may be nearly at leasing capacity but many more commercial and residential projects are being built. Anyone who has spent time in Cebu recently will be surprised at the sheer volume of construction either under way or earmarked to start shortly.
Alongside the continuing expansion of IT Park and Business Park, a plethora of exciting new developments are due to be completed over the next 4–5 years providing an ever expanding range of living and working environments for entrepreneurs such as Gatewalk Central, Mandani Bay, Taft Eastgate, SRP and many more.
5. Better general lifestyle
Cebu has recently been voted the world’s 6th best island by a well-known travel magazine and has been voted in the top 20 by Conde Naste. What else do we need to say? Additionally, jet cats and ferry’s from the cities main port give residents a range of easy getaway options such as Bohol, Camotes, and Siquijor. Mactan, Cebu’s, very own tropical island is lush with classy resorts and lifestyle options too.
To top it all off Cebu island itself is a rich natural playground and gateway to its own jewels like Oslob, Moalboal, and Bantayan Island. There are also many forest reserves, mountains, and hills, that are perfect for those who love forest trekking and rich historical sites for cultural enthusiasts. This is all great (and necessary) brain food for the countries top innovative minds.
6. Improving Infrastructure
The Mactan International airport is getting a new terminal, a third bridge connecting Mactan with Cebu is being planned and the entire south road properties (SRP) and north reclamation area projects are starting to take shape turning Cebu into a premium waterfront lifestyle destination, a trait that Manila cannot live up to. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently concluded the Roadmap Study for Sustainable Urban Development in Metro Cebu (Metro Cebu Roadmap), while also citing solid growth of 5.8% GDP and 1 million new jobs to be created by 2050 once the roadmap is fully implemented.
The Roadmap can be the city’s blueprint for sustainable economic development and provides all local stakeholders with a clear vision for the future.
Also, there is the exciting prospective addition of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System which is a planned mass transit system for Cebu City that is expected to become the first operational bus rapid transit project in the Philippines. Due to start in the last quarter of 2016, it will be finished within 2 to 3 years in 2018 or 2019. Getting around more easily improves productivity and reduces stress, traits that are well needed when experiencing the strain of startup business.
7. Cebuano People
Cebuanos are much more chilled than their capital city counterparts. This makes living here a better all round experience. They may also gel more easily with startup culture which is inherently less structured than corporate culture and requires and endless amount of patience as the trials and tribulations of growing a company iron themselves out. They are also inherently awesome at English and this makes growing a startup to an international base, especially in aspects of marketing, customer support and business development, much easier. The people of Cebu are also known for their creativity. Needless to say, this is an extremely useful asset for startups.
8. Talent Pool
Home to some of the best universities outside of Manila such as The University of San Carlos Cebu naturally has a good pool of talent. If founders of startups only had one other asset than themselves and money it would be talent so this is an incredibly important benefit. Additionally, the fact that entrepreneurs will not have to compete with so many large-scale conglomerates as they would have to do in Manila, evens the playing field.
9. Strategic Location
Cebu is not only in the middle of the Philippines giving it a geographic advantage it has an impressive and expanding range of direct international flights to choose from including Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and starting later this year Bangkok. A strategically well-located tech hub has a range of obvious advantages.
10. Shopping, Entertainment, and Nightlife
Whilst Cebu can’t match Manila in any of these categories there is more than enough going on to keep people interested. The World renowned super chef Jason Atherton is just about to open his first project in the Philippines in Cebu, The Pig & Palm and Singapore-based hospitality group Tadcaster are aggressively expanding across Cebu. There’s no shortage of shopping either and new malls opening constantly. A mini greenbelt style centre will adorn IT Park in 2019 and the development of the area around SM Seaside, the third largest mall in the Philippines, including a new aquarium is taking shape.
When looking at this unique combination of assets it’s easy to see why Cebu is a glorious position to become the tech startup hub of the Philippines. My hope is that everyone in the startup community and the government feels the same way. Let us work together to create one of the best tech hubs in Asia. Perhaps we can even borrow the phrase Silicon Beach from LA!
Originally posted at http://www.outstars.com/#!blog/ig1ub
