Metro Cebu is expected to become a leading growth center which will generate 1 million jobs by 2050, a study by Japan International Cooperation Agency shows.
Jica said about 1 million new jobs would be created by 2050, once the roadmap for sustainable urban development in Metro Cebu was implemented.
The study assumed a solid growth of 5.8-percent gross domestic product in the Philippines within the 35-year time frame.
“We hope that the Philippine government will approve the roadmap in the same way that they supported the infrastructure roadmap for Mega Manila,” Jica chief representative in the Philippines Noriaki Niwa said.
“The study showed that Central Visayas can become a leading growth center in the country, and therefore has the potential to sustain the Philippines’ economic gains and jobs for Filipinos,” he said.
According to the study, economic activities in Cebu are expected to increase 15 times from the 2010 level.
The city’s GDP per capita is expected to rise to $20,000 by 2050, almost the same as Korea’s level in 2010.
Metro Cebu’s economy is also projected to expand by 8.3 percent year-on-year between 2010 and 2020; 7.8 percent per year from 2020 to 2030; and 5.8 percent a year from 2030 to 2050.
The Metro Cebu Roadmap study was initiated by Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, in collaboration with Jica and Yokohama City, Japan to attain the Mega Cebu Vision 2050.
Under the study, seven sub-roadmaps were also identified, including metropolitan competitiveness enhancement; urban structure and land use; highway network and public transport; water supply, storm water and wastewater management; solid waste management; smart South Road Properties development and metropolitan governance.
Ten flagship projects would be implemented until 2020 while Jica also outlined 14 anchor programs to be implemented by 2050.
Niwa cited the support and cooperation of Cebu stakeholders in finalizing the roadmap. He underscored the need to “immediately start working on flagship projects under the Metro Cebu Roadmap.”
“We are also expecting that the roadmap will be supported by future administrations,” Niwa said.