Negros Occidental Acting Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday said the challenge now is how to attract more BPO firms to the Negros First CyberCentre in Bacolod City.

Ubiquity Global Services so far is the lone locator in the three-storey provincial government building, he noted.

Provincial Administrator Enrique Pinongan said Ubiquity occupies part of the second floor of the CyberCentre and has expressed interest in expanding.

The rest of the second floor and third floor of the building are still available for lease, he added.

Pinongan said a medical transcription firm and the Caña group have expressed interest in leasing space in the second floor of the building.

But the interest of Accenture, a global BPO firm, in leasing space at the CyberCentre did not push through, he said.

Lacson said the challenge to attract more locators to the CyberCentre by the provincial government will have to compete with private sector efforts to also attract occupants to their sites.

The vice governor noted that the provincial government has hired Bonifacio Belen as a consultant in the selection of a business partner for the development and management of the CyberCentre.

The provincial government is studying whether the management of the CyberCentre should be privatized, Pinongan said.

Lacson said Pinongan has informed him that 82 spaces up for lease on the first floor of the CyberCentre have been awarded.

Those who have been awarded spaces have began improving their areas, Pinongan said.

Pinongan said there are 124 spaces up for lease on the first floor and a third bidding will be conducted.

The slow occupancy on the first floor may be because those leasing areas there are waiting for the second and third floors to be fully occupied as their clients will come from the BPO firms that locate there, Pinongan said.

He said Bacolod Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue has assured the governor that locators will move into the CyberCentre.

The Philippine National Bank and Land Bank of the Philippines are also leasing spaces on the first floor of the CyberCentre and draft contracts have been readied for approval of their boards, Pinongan added.

The generators and elevators for the CyberCentre have arrives and are being installed, and the finishing touches on the CyberCentre are being put in place, he said.*CPG

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