A LOCAL businessman wants to turn Mandaue City into a medical tourism destination by developing a three-hectare property into a “Medical City” that will host establishments offering health and diagnostic services.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Philip Tan, who declined to reveal the investor’s name and company, said the P1.5-billion project is expected to generate 3,000 jobs.
Tan said the investor presented the plan to City officials two weeks ago and is now working on the necessary documents from City Hall and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
“This is a unique project. Mandaue should be known not only for its manufacturing industry,” he told reporters during a recent event at City Hall.
Tan said the investor hopes to break ground for the project by the last quarter of the year and complete the development in two to three years.
“It will be a mixed-use development project that will follow the ‘Medical City’ concept,” he said, adding that the project is timely because of the opening of two major hospitals in the city a few years from now.
The construction of the UC Medical Center and the Chong Hua Hospital is ongoing in the Mandaue Reclamation Area.
Tan did not disclose the location of the project, but said it is less than 10 kms. from the Mactan Cebu International Airport in the adjacent City of Lapu-Lapu.
The businessman commended the City Government for supporting businessman who want to invest in the city. “Wala nay daghang estorya (There’s no more lengthy discussions),” he said.
In his inaugural speech in July last year, Mayor Jonas Cortes bared a 200-hectare coastal development project along the Cansaga Bay, which he said “will change the facade of the city.”
The P8-billion project, called the Mandaue Global Central Project, will host commercial, residential and industrial establishments.
To rise in the area are the Waterfront Commercial Center, the Agro-Industrial Logistics Park, the Cansaga Bay Commercial and Residential Center and the Mandaue Central Watersport and Leisure Park.