Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 13 No. 6 - Geographics

Santa Rosa: Investment Haven of Choice

Thanks to public-private sector cooperation, Santa Rosa’s vision of progress and development is now a thriving reality

By the Santa Rosa City Business Club

From a fourth-class municipality, Santa Rosa in Laguna became a first-class town in 1993 and subsequently declared a city on 10 July 2004. This is indicative of the steady and substantial progress that Santa Rosa, a strategic gateway to Metro Manila and to the provinces of the CALABARZON subregion, has enjoyed in recent years, attracting a constant stream of investors that have given residents access to numerous job opportunities.

Santa Rosa is one of 20 Philippine cities regarded as the most competitive in providing an environment favorable for people and business. Click here to view map

Host to Industry

Santa Rosa currently hosts three globally competitive industrial estates, namely, Laguna Technopark, which was the first industrial estate to be set up in the Philippines; the Santa Rosa Business Park; and the Meridian Industrial Complex.

The Laguna Technopark is a joint venture between Ayala Land Inc. and two world-renowned Japanese corporations, Mitsubishi Corporation and Kawasaki Steel Corporation. Locators at the 387-hectare complex include such international companies as Fujitsu Ten, Golay Buchel, Henkel, Hitachi, Honda, International Distillers, Isuzu, Matsushita, TDK, Toshiba, and Trilux.

The Santa Rosa Business Park, located in Barangay Don Jose, is a 260-hectare integrated commercial, business, and industrial park. Within it, one will find the Greenfield Industrial Center, Laguna Central Business District, Paseo de Santa Rosa, Country Market, and Greenfield Automotive Park, where such companies as Ford, Visteon Corporation, and Automotive Interior Corporation have set up shop.

The 20-hectare Meridian Industrial Complex caters to light to medium industries, with locators involved in the business of electrical parts, soap, furniture and décor, insulators and adhesives, construction, and medicines, among others.

In 2003, Santa Rosa became home to another special economic zone when the Philippine Economic Zone Authority certified Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation as the developer and operator of the Toyota Special Economic Zone. The TSEZ’s locators include Toyota Autoparts Philippines, Aichi Forging Co., Philippine HKR Inc., and Tokai Rika Philippines Inc.

RP’s Detroit and Silicon Valley

Most of the country’s car manufacturers and assemblers have settled in Santa Rosa. The presence of Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (the No. 1 automotive company in the Philippines and the city’s top business taxpayer for 2005), Honda Cars Philippines, Ford Group Philippines, and Nissan Motor Philippines certainly bolster Santa Rosa’s image as the “Little Detroit of the Philippines.”

Because many major semiconductor and electronics companies can be found in Santa Rosa, the city and the whole province of Laguna have also been dubbed the “Silicon Valley of the Philippines.” Furthermore, the CALABARZON Regional Development Council has named Santa Rosa as the region’s ICT hub because of the city’s good ICT facilities and infrastructure.

With all that business activity, it is not surprising that the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project 2005 conducted by the Asian Institute of Management cited Santa Rosa as one of 20 cities regarded to be the most competitive in providing an environment favorable for people and business. In his message during the city’s second anniversary in July, Mayor Jose Catindig Jr. proudly pointed out that “economic opportunities have reached great heights with increased investments and the development of a competitive local market.”

Public-Private Sector Synergy

To what can the great strides made by the city be attributed? The vision of progress and development of Santa Rosa is anchored on the synergy between the local government and the business community. Together, the pubic and private sectors are taking on the responsibility of building a prosperous economy that is attractive and open to investments that integrate the city into the regional and national community, and that provides economic opportunities for the people of Santa Rosa.

The city of Santa Rosa, Laguna, is truly the ideal investment haven. Not only is it endowed with abundant natural resources and the availability of a highly skilled workforce, it also has a local government unit that is focused on promoting business, inviting new investments, and expanding existing ones,” said Mario Mamon, president of Enchanted Kingdom, a world-class amusement park located in the city and the only one of its kind in the country.

In Santa Rosa, the business sector is considered as a partner in local governance. The city government recognizes the crucial role of the business community in promoting job creation, local economic stability, and the delivery of basic services to the city’s constituency. Thus, the newly founded Santa Rosa City Business Club has been working in close coordination with and enjoying the full cooperation of the various offices of the local government. The SRCBC, together with the city government’s Investment Promotions Group, regularly holds consultation and planning sessions to direct the thrust of the city government and the local business sector towards holistic development.
The 2006 Santa Rosa City Investment Code is set to be enacted to reinforce the city government’s efforts on investment promotion and employment generation. The code provides for priority areas for investments with available incentives packages.

Meanwhile, the city’s Trade and Investment Promotion Office has already created a lot of avenues to advance the city’s investment promotion efforts. The business sector has also been vigorous in their efforts in investment promotion activities, and the Santa Rosa City Business Club has been at the forefront of these efforts.