SM CITY Bacolod will open today, October 16, its North Wing expansion project, which includes the SMX Convention Center.

Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella said the opening of the SMX Convention Center and SM Bacolod expansion go hand in hand.

“We hope to have an SM hotel soon because we need two more hotels for next year. SMX Convention Center will bring in more money to the economy of Bacolod because national conventions will be held in Bacolod,” the mayor said.

Meanwhile, Puentevella said that Bacolod continues to be the among the top choices of Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) locators as their site outside Metro Manila.

The mayor spoke on bringing growth to the provinces during 6th Annual International IT-BPM Summit (IIS) 2014: Global Market Leaders Addressing Global Issues at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel earlier this week.

“There were so many foreigners. They were asked if they will move out of Metro Manila, where will they go? Seventy-five percent said they will move out of Manila,” he said.

When asked what cities they prefer as location, they answered Davao, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Baguio and Bacolod, the mayor said.