CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A young estate-developer sees a pandemic-driven boom in real estate in Pampanga in 2024.
“The restrictions during the pandemic, whereby people were virtually cooped up in their homes, was particularly telling for those living in Metro Manila,” noted Architect Brian John “BJ” Mangio, EVP-COO of Central Country Estate Inc., during the Balitaan at Talakayan of the Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga Chapter on Jan. 11 at the Hotel Gracelane here.
“This raised interest in the rural areas where greater space still abounds. With easy accessibility to the metropolis, Pampanga makes an ideal choice as a place of residence for easier living,” shared Mangio.
Other factors he cited as motivations to seek rural life options are “safety, security, and potentially lower costs of living.”
“With real estate rises too the construction industry and those of its affiliates from aggregates and cement to hardware and lumber and the like,” he added. “And the concomitant labor generated therefrom.”
Brighter prospects are also seen in the food industry, even as the government “needs to do a better job in agriculture.”
“A great year for food was 2023,” said Mangio whose company’s flagship Lakeshore Pampanga residential estate hosts a number of restaurants both multinational and homegrown.
“The sudden discovery of culinary skills at the time of the Covid restrictions gave rise to home-cooked food, initially for delivery and then the sprouting of food stalls,” Mangio noted, citing their own experience with the community outside Lakeshore who have been given spaces at its gas service station compound to sell their home products.
“We are happy that there were a number of those we helped who have expanded with food trucks and stalls in other areas,” Mangio enthused, even as he pointed the need of assistance from the greater business community for the micro enterprises to be sustainable.
Mentoring
He cited the Shepherding Micro Enterprises (SME) program of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PamCham) initiated during the presidency of his father, foremost Architect Nestor S. Mangio, that assigned senior member-companies to fledgling micro enterprises to help them increase efficiency, improve customer experience, and remain competitive in the evolving market with the end-in-view of raising them to the next status in the micro, small, and medium enterprises ladder.
Former PamCham president and current director Rene Romero who also guested in the CLMA-Pampanga forum shared that PamCham is actively assisting and mentoring MSMEs regarding digitalization and efficient financial management to provide them “valuable guidance to navigate the digital transformation and optimize their financial resources.”
The young Mangio called on enterprises – at all MSM levels – to adapt to innovations in order to stay highly viable in the changing business landscape, noting that: “Staying current with technical breakthroughs and industry trends can help firms stay relevant and competitive on a global level.” Bong Z. Lacson/Photo: Nelson Gonzales
