In a major progress for the Philippines’ track to be the next hyperscalers hub in the Asia Pacific region, officials of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Board of Investments (BOI) met with representatives from SpaceDC and discussed serious plans of the latter to establish the largest hyperscale data center in the country during a courtesy call last February 28, 2022.
Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez and BOI Managing Head Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo together with representatives from the BOI Investments Assistance Service, Ms. Danela Bautista and Mr. Lubin R. De Vera Jr., met SpaceDC CEO Mr. Darren Hawkins who was with Mr. Joshua Robinson, Chief Investment Officer of SpaceDC. In the meeting, possible economic benefits that the Philippines can reap from the said project was discussed. With an estimated investment cost of USD700 million, the hyperscale data center called “MNL1 Data Center” will provide a critical data center infrastructure in the country.
Secretary Lopez highlighted the fact that the project is advantageous for the country as this will generate more local jobs; he also assured SpaceDC that the Trade Department together with the BOI will ensure that SpaceDC will be extended facilitation and assistance services for ease of doing business.
Prior to the courtesy call, the BOI Investments Assistance Service (BOI-IAS), as the first touchpoint of investors in the Philippines, conducted an Investment Briefing last 24 February 2022 with the company and discussed BOI’s Investor facilitation and assistance Services as well as incentives that the company may avail of under the CREATE Law. In addition, BOI-IAS committed to link SpaceDC with various National Government Agencies for its permits and licenses requirements. Initially, BOI-IAS have assisted SpaceDC in reaching out to the Local Government Unit of Cainta where the project will be located.
‘The BOI have been proactive from the start by reaching out to us and offering BOI’s assistance and support’ to the project, said Darren Hawkins, CEO of SpaceDC. ‘In just a short period of time they have introduced us to key officials at both the national and the local level. They have provided guidance on what incentive programs we are eligible of. The information and introductions from BOI is already generating value for SpaceDC.’
SpaceDC, a data center provider, is investing more than USD700 million in its planned 72-megawatt (MW) hyperscale data center in Cainta, Rizal, which will run on renewable energy and is expected to commence by the end of 2022 and further expansion by 2023. As such, Undersecretary Rodolfo mentioned that the project could be a catalyst in promoting renewable energy in the Philippines. On the part of SpaceDC, Mr. Hawkins pointed out that they will focus on exploring and promoting such type of energy.
“This project by the SpaceDC to establish the Philippines’ biggest hyperscale data center is truly remarkable, as it’s a leap forward toward our goal for our country to be the next hyperscalers hub in the Asia Pacific region. We are on the right track; we are Making It Happen,” said the Undersecretary.
Hyperscalers are global technology companies providing cloud and internet-based services, which require huge amounts of space, power, and connectivity because of their massive customer base and user demand surges.
As the hyperscalers industry is significant to sustain the country’s road to economic recovery, Secretary Lopez has been pushing for the Philippines to be the next hyperscalers hub in APAC, as he has always emphasized that such industry will propel the economic growth of the country even further, coupled with its thriving digital economy and good economic profile.
The Trade Secretary pointed out that amended laws and reformed policies in the Philippines can shore up hyperscaler companies to grow their business, citing amendments to the Foreign Investments Act (FIA), the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), the Public Service Act (PSA), and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act, which provides for lower-income taxes for businesses and a menu of incentives.
Under the “Make It Happen in the Philippines” campaign, the country’s international investments promotion campaign, the national government, through the BOI, identified hyperscalers as a new addition to the key priority sectors for intensive promotion. Such move aims to invite hyperscalers to expand their businesses in the country through the setting up of their cloud and network infrastructure in the Philippines.
Based on the figures of Global Data, the Philippines’ enterprise spending on cloud services is expected to swell from USD1.8 billion to USD2.6 billion by 2024. Also, the government has sped up the use of digital technology for government services to step up transactions in public offices with the implementation of the Central Business Portal (CBP) – a single site for all business-related information and transactions such as securing business permits and licenses.
Likewise, hyperscalers investors can take advantage of the Philippines’ ready infrastructure support such as telecommunications, connectivity, and presence of data centers for co-location, and its renewable energy readiness.
Furthermore, the hyperscalers industry cultivates the developer community and start-up ecosystem and increases digital adoption of consumers and enterprises; it will also bring in faster and more reliable access to hyperscaler-hosted platforms and content for users in the Philippines.