ALVIN B. GARCIA, Mayor of Cebu City

he Island of Cebu is a case apart in the story of regional development in the Philippines. “The new Singapore” as some locals like to call it, was already the country’s biggest economy outside the metropolitan Manila area even before the “People Power” revolution of 1986. The problem now is not so much how to attract more investment, but how to cater for the booming businesses that are already established.

The secret of the island’s success may lie in the paucity of fertile land. “We never had a rich agricultural base and, in order to survive, we had to resort to trade to prosper,” explains Alvin B. Garcia, Mayor of Cebu City.

A good port, a central location within the Philippines and an entrepreneurial spirit among the people have pushed this small island to the forefront of the country’s new economic surge. Export growth has consistently outstripped that of the Philippines as a whole. The phenomenon has been tagged Ce-boom and the story seems set to continue.

The Fuente Osmeña Circle in the heart of bustling Cebu City.

The island’s main manufacturers, who produce semi-conductors, electronic watches, cameras and furniture among other things, are looking to exploit the new opportunities opening up through membership of ASEAN and their proximity to the vast Japanese and South Korean markets. With some of the world’s top firms, such as Timex, Asahi Pentax, NEC and National Semiconductors well-established in the island’s thriving Mactan Export Processing Zone and labor productivity up among the world’s best, Cebu’s reputation is firmly entrenched. “We have a very good workforce here. We have about one hundred thousand students graduating at any one time who can all speak English and are all computer literate,” Mayor Garcia notes.

The main threat to Cebu’s prosperity is that the island could fall victim to its own success. Infrastructure is already under pressure, with roads increasingly congested and the port, the traditional focus of trade, now unable to cope with the traffic. Water supply is a major headache in Cebu City as more of the island’s almost three million inhabitants move to the city. Various schemes to tackle these problems are being evaluated, including the construction of another port and a new dam costing up to US$ 150 million.