Mandaue City

The highly-urbanized and industrial Mandaue City is emerging as "new economic driver" of Cebu.

This is not surprising since Mandaue has always played a dominant role in the industrial and commercial development of Cebu.

Mandaue is home to elegantly designed furniture and fashion accessories, as well as delicately processed food, which enabled Cebu to develop rapidly and made Mandaue a "preferred investments destination."

Mandaue grew at an average of 14 percent annual rate, based on the gross receipts of all the business establishments registered in the city, reported Mayor Ouano.

In 2005 alone, there have been 1,098 new investments in the Mandaue.
Mandaue is also fast becoming the "convention center of the south."
With the completion of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) by the end of this year, the Mandaue will become a venue for meetings, conferences and exhibits, aside from being the venue of the Asean Summit.

"The CICC will serve as the melting pot for international trade and conferences," Ouano said.

The convention center is a joint project of the Province of Cebu and the city of Mandaue.

The province is paying for its construction, while the city provided the lot on which it is being built. Officials from the city and province Friday morning converged at the Mandaue Reclamation area to formally break the ground at the 43,185-square meter lot where the CICC will rise.