ArthaLand Corporation (ALCO) recently signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Estate Company, Ltd. (MEC), which is one of the largest real estate developers in Japan.  This agreement will be Mitsubishi Estate’s first venture in the Philippines. Mitsubishi Estate is acquiring from ALCO a 40% stake in ALCO’s ownership of Savya Land Development Corporation, which is developing the Savya Financial Center in ARCA South, Taguig City.

“We are pleased to join the promising Philippine market and collaborating with a good partner, ALCO. ArthaLand has great experience in providing valuable and sustainable developments to the Philippine society. It was one of the important elements for us in deciding who we would be working with,” said YutaroYotsuzuka, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Estate Asia.

Under the terms of the partnership, ArthaLand will take the lead in managing the operations of the project while Mitsubishi Estate will offer its expertise to further improve the project’s value.

“We are honored to be chosen as the partner by Mitsubishi Estate in their first venture in the country and we stand to gain from their over 100 year experience in property development, architecture research, and design,” said Jaime C. González, Vice Chairman and President & CEO of ArthaLand.

 The Philippines’ positive economic outlook attractive to MEC

According to Mitsubishi Estate, the Philippines has continuously grown its economy at a relatively higher level as against other ASEAN countries.

“We believe such economic growth will continue because of the current administration’s economic policies such as the Build, Build, Build as well as its strong fundamentals. Hence, we thought there will be a lot of business opportunities in this country and we also thought there will be a lot of possibility for Mitsubishi Estate Group in which it can bring its expertise,” said Yotsuzuka.

Mitsubishi Estate will proactively continue expanding its business in Philippines.

A partnership that will withstand the test of time

According to Leonardo Arthur T. Po, Executive Vice President and Treasurer of ArthaLand, “We are aligned with Mitsubishi Estate’s values in building legacy projects. It validates our position in the industry as a leader in timeless design, high quality, and sustainable developments. We look forward to building more commercial office projects with Mitsubishi Estate.”

The partnership with Mitsubishi Estate is highly strategic.  ArthaLand stands to gain from Mitsubishi Estate’s global perspective and development experience. It will allow the company to further improve its quality,  its  systems and  learn new techniques in architectural design, engineering, and sustainability.

“It is always very important for us to have the same philosophy and corporate vision with our joint venture partners when we do business. Going through the discussion with ArthaLand, we found common interests and values,” said Yotsuzuka.

Mitsubishi Estate boasts of its leading position in the Japanese market, developing commercial, residential and retail properties.

With a capitalization of approx. US$24B, the strength of Mitsubishi Estate lies in its comprehensive business structure, covering businesses ranging from development to leasing and property management. As of 2018, Mitsubishi Estate has the most valuable portfolio in the Japanese real estate industry, much of which is located in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo which has grown into Japan’s leading business district. Mitsubishi Estate owns Japan’s second tallest building, the Yokohama Landmark Tower, as well as the Sanno Park Tower and Marunouchi Building in Tokyo. Around 40% of MEC’s total revenue is generated from its office building business, while its residential business generates approximately 35% and approximately 10% is from its International business.

Mitsubishi Estate’s area of operations is not confined to Japan. They have four regional headquarters: the Rockefeller Group in New York, Mitsubishi Estate London, Mitsubishi Estate Asia, and Mitsubishi Estate Shanghai. They have invested over US$7 billion all over the world.

Savya Financial Center is envisioned to be the new capital address for business and commerce in ARCA South, Taguig City.

Launched in early 2019, construction is already underway for the Savya Financial Center – a new premium mid-rise office development with a fully integrated retail component. Situated in the highly connected new business district of ARCA South in Taguig City, both the North and South towers of Savya are designed and built with modern, smart and sustainable building features, pre-certified Gold with the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and registered with the Philippine Green Building Council’s BERDE. Sustainable features combined with exemplary building design, that is meant to deliver function with form, Savya aims to provide a beneficial work environment that will boost energy and resource efficiency, reduce operating costs and promote a healthier and more productive office space.

Many businesses have become successful through the guidance of their vision and the help of proper tools and technologies. This is true for Go Motion, Inc., a production house based in Makati City, founded in 2012 by six people who shared a grand goal.

“We had a vision for what a 21st-century production house could be — full of creative talent that works on groundbreaking work. We wanted to be the change we wanted to see in our industry,” said EJ Angeles, Business Development Manager of Go Motion.

From its humble beginnings as a corporate media supplier, Go Motion expanded its services one step at a time. In 2015, it started producing television commercials for top brands in the Philippines and abroad. Soon after, it included creatives and strategic planning in its wide range of services.

Go Motion has also started producing films and shows. Notably, in 2017, it created Playhouse Studio, an innovation unit tasked to break new grounds in video design, technology, and consumption.

As much as Go Motion expanded its services, it has catered to many local and international brands and even pitched content for many streaming services. Its great work through time earned them prestigious awards inside and outside the country.

This profound growth of Go Motion into an integrated video agency was possible through the vision they carried with them. For Mr. Angeles, Go Motion’s vision was not only their starting point. It has been their guiding star.

Along with the vision, technology has served as Go Motion’s tool in building up and growing their business. Technology has helped them not only in terms of production but also in terms of task management.

“Technology has enabled us to take out menial tasks from some of our employees such as traffic managers, post-production editors, and other staff,” Mr. Angeles explained. “Technology helps us both ways: make our work easier, better, more time-efficient; and at the same time create things we have never thought of creating three to five years ago.”

As Go Motion has successfully reached where they are now, they still aim for greater heights.

“We envision our work to be on every screen — may it be television, your laptop, mobile phone, out of home billboards, movie theaters, everywhere. That’s where we know we have made it,” Mr. Angeles said.

“When we have made it, we want to pave the way for our employees to have ownership on our company so that it continues — even without its founding members — to grow and have high impact work not only in the Philippines but in the ASEAN market,” he added.

Indeed, a great vision and workable technology can work together to make a business grow. This is possible with Globe myBusiness, which equips micro, small and medium businesses for the future, with best value products and solutions.

As the SME arm of Globe, it is the goal of Globe myBusiness to help every enterprise reach its full potential through industry-specific tips, lessons from experts in the field, and business solutions tailored to answer every business owner’s needs. Globe myBusiness salutes Filipino SMEs for the important role they play in nation-building. #SaludoSMEs

For more information, visit https://mybusiness.globe.com.ph.

Four interns were proclaimed the Grand Champions at the first ever Ayala Group Interns’ Innovation League (AGI2LE), the culminating event at the 11th Ayala Group Summer Internship Program (AGSIP). The awarding ceremony, which took place at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City, was attended by 120 Ayala interns and Ayala executives. The winning team named “Osena” was comprised of Maria Betina Ramos (ADMU), Alexander Go Tian (UP), Joe Diether Cabelin (UP), and Jose Karlo Pascual (UA&P). They pitched “Paglago”, a B2B platform that aims to deliver fresh produce efficiently and sustainably from Luzon farmers to Manila kitchens. Team Osena won P50,000, an immersion trip to the headquarters of an Ayala technology partner company, and job offers from the Ayala group.

In his opening address to the interns, Ayala’s Chief Human Resource Officer and Group Head of Corporate Resources John Philip S. Orbeta said, “We at the Ayala group promised to give you an internship experience unlike any other—immersive, engaging, and challenging. After all, this is the Ayala way. For 185 years, our company has aspired to be a partner in nation building. Today, we continue to align our business objectives towards these aspirations. I believe this is what makes our internship program unique. We had no doubt that as the best in your class, you would not only be able to handle the difficulties of performing real work during your internship, but that you would also be able to explore innovative ideas that could make a difference to society. We are certainly proud that all of you have stepped up and delivered.”

Over the course of their six-week AGSIP engagement, the interns, representing the top 15% of the academic achievers in some of the country’s best universities, developed and pitched ideas to answer the brief of providing a sustainable solution that would improve the quality of life of an underserved market. Six out of 27 teams moved on to the final judging by a panel of Ayala executives, namely Toti Bengzon (Ayala Land Chief Financial Officer), Gabby Blaza (AC Industrials Strategy and Business Development Group Head), Jose Rene D. Almendras (Ayala Group Head of Public Affairs and AC Infrastructure President & CEO), Rodell Garcia (Manila Water Chief Technology Adviser), Vince Tobias (Ayala Head of Innovation), and the aforementioned John Philip S. Orbeta.

“The Ayala of today is very different from the one that existed a decade or two ago,” said Ayala Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, who dropped by to congratulate the interns. “We need to reinvent ourselves to stay relevant among our customers and the communities we serve. And who better to look for reinvention than from people your age?”