Track2Realty: Cushman & Wakefield has expanded into the Philippines with a new office in Manila, its 5th new office in Asia Pacific so far in 2012.
Sanjay Verma, CEO for Asia Pacific said, “This move is in line with our five year strategic plan, which contains an aggressive expansion plan for our business in Asia Pacific. We have opened 5 new offices so far this year in Asia Pacific and we expect to open another one in the coming months. This new office in Manila will help us further increase the depth and breadth of our service offerings to our global clients and leverage the economic growth that the Philippines has to offer as an emerging economy.”
Arsh Chaudhry, Executive Managing Director for Cushman & Wakefield in South East Asia said, “We have aggressively been expanding our platform in South East Asia over the last 3 years. Over this timeframe, we have significantly augmented our leadership team in Singapore, added several key staff in Vietnam and expanded our already strong platform in Indonesia. With this new office in Manila we now have a very comprehensive geographical coverage to help our clients across South East Asia.”
“We have opened an office in the Philippines because our clients are there and need integrated service offerings. We have already witnessed a number of our clients choosing to set up their back office and growing in the Philippines. This trend is set to continue. With a population of over 92 million, 93% literacy rate, one of the best demographic profiles in Asia and projected GDP growth rates of 6-7% over the next few years, the Philippines economy is poised to grow from strength to strength. Efficiency pressures in Europe and the United States will continue to drive the outsourcing business further in the Philippines. The C&W platform will give us the ability to reach out to investors and occupiers globally and introduce best in class services in the Philippines,” said Arsh Chaudhry.
The Manila office will be led by Joe Curran who has been appointed as the General Manager. Prior to joining C&W, Joe was with CBRE Philippines for 8 years. During this period, Joe developed an in-depth knowledge of the local market and built strong relationships across the industry.
The Philippines economy is set to grow by about 5% in 2012, largely spurred on by increased government infrastructure spending and fiscal reforms. Property, as a sector, has shown sustained growth throughout 2012 driven by strong demand from the global outsourcing industry and a robust residential market. One of the main success stories in the Philippines over the past decade has been the rise of the outsourcing industry. Since the year 2000 this industry has grown annually by about 30% and by 2011 employed in excess of 600,000 people. This has had obvious knock-on effects for the property market with increases in both office and residential demand. Economic indicators suggest that this growth will continue as the outsourcing industry looks to break one million employees.
