Megaworld Donates Prime McKinley Hill Office to PCCI (Real Estate Business Times

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Megaworld Donates Prime McKinley Hill Office to PCCI

Megaworld Corporation Chairman and President Andrew Tan (second from right) and Director Miguel Valera (right) formally donate 2,000 square meters of prime office space at McKinley Hill to Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Sammie Lim and Council of Advisers Chairman Jose Pardo (left).

MANILA, June 27, 2007 -- Property giant MEGAWORLD Corporation is donating 2,000 square meters of prime office space at its 50-hectare McKinley Hill township in Fort Bonifacio as the permanent home of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

As specified in the Memorandum of Agreement signed today at the Manila Peninsula Hotel, the PCCI will locate its head office at the new McKinley Civic Center in Fort Bonifacio by mid-2009. According to Megaworld, the space is being donated to PCCI for the entire duration of the building’s life span.

“Megaworld deemed it best to donate this prime piece of property to PCCI because as the single voice of business here in the country, it definitely needs a permanent home to do its job of stimulating business activity in the best manner. They also needed a site that is very forward-looking and modern, that is why McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio is the best site for this nationwide association of entrepreneurs and industrialists,” noted Megaworld Chairman & President Andrew Tan.

PCCI President Sammie Lim lauded the donation, saying, “It took 104 years, and we finally have a permanent home.” He also praised the noble endeavor of Megaworld Chairman & President Andrew Tan: “It took the most dynamic, fastest rising taipan to recognize and offer the PCCI what it needs, in the same way that he has recognized the needs of the country’s housing sector.”

Megaworld is donating 2,000 square meters to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the 15-storey McKinley Civic Center.

Lim espoused the many benefits that their future permanent home will have on their members. “It’s a place to meet. It will definitely attract a lot of our more than 1,200 members to be more active.”

As the leader of the business chamber, he also outlined future directions on their new office. “We will have desks for each of our different member associations, regional chapters including those in Mindanao and Visayas. Even our bilateral and international teams will have desks for North America and so forth.” Since much of their memberships count entrepreneurs and industry leaders across the country, the desks are an important step in furthering business collaboration and activity.

As for the new site, McKinley Hill, Lim hopes that “PCCI can be a magnet to the new business district that Andrew Tan is envisioning. With PCCI’s national and international reach, that is certainly doable.”

The PCCI is a non-stock, non-profit organization comprised of 1,200 direct members, 98 local chambers, 122 industry associations, and 30 foreign business councils, all working together for a more vibrant Philippine economy and to improve the viability of businesses in the country.