THREE cities in Cebu emerged among the top six cities where it is easiest to start a business in the Philippines, according to a survey commissioned by the International Finance Corp. and the World Bank.

Lapu-Lapu City is the second easiest city to start a business in, next only to Taguig. Cebu City placed fourth, while Mandaue landed sixth in a list of 21 cities in the “Doing Business in the Philippines 2008” survey. Continue…

PRESIDENT Arroyo has designated Argao, Cebu Mayor Edsel Galeos as a consultant for the National Government’s water projects, impressed as she was by the southern town’s irrigation scheme.

Arroyo, who visited Argao last May 19, saw the system that, for only P300,000, has benefited about 80 families without using any electricity.

“The President was very impressed with this because as you know this is part of the government’s program, especially that we are confronted with the global food crisis and we are trying to enhance food production,” Presidential Management Staff Chief Cerge Remonde said. SunStar

The State of Israel aims to jumpstart strong trade relations with the Philippines seeing an opportunity to increase trade exchanges by capitalizing on each country’s expertise.

Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Zvi Aviner Vapni said Cebu could maximize trade opportunities in Israel as it also has a huge potential in attracting Information Technology (IT) related investments.

Cebu could also tap the growing 7.28 million population in Israel as market for Cebu-made products like furniture, wood raw material, processed food (fruits and seafood), among others, Vapni said. More…

CEBU’S economy is enjoying a boom cycle as a result of the continuing upsurge of the tourism and IT (information technology) industries.

Real estate has especially benefited from this trend with the need for commercial lots, office spaces, new shopping and lifestyle concepts, and other related industries.

Known for its ability to constantly innovate and address market needs, Ayala Land affiliate, Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), is poised to undertake another project to take advantage of these growing industries.

The real estate developer announced that it will be building another residential condominium within Cebu Business Park (CBP). More…

The Cebu City government eyes nighttime museum visits as a tourist attraction and a source of livelihood for the local community.

“We are giving another dimension to (Cebu City) tours,” said Nagiel Bañacia, Cebu City public information officer, at the press conference for the second Gabii sa Kabilin (Night of Heritage) held yesterday.

“Why are tourists coming in? It is because of our beaches. But they also want to look at our culture,” he added. More…

HIS Majesty, King Mswati III of Swaziland, will arrive in Cebu at 3 p.m. today for a three-day vacation before going to Bohol and Manila.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu City, 6th district) and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Aturo Radaza will welcome the king upon his arrival.

The king will stay in Cebu for three days before leaving for Manila on Sunday to meet with President Arroyo. He will be in the country until Tuesday. SunStar

The island-province of Cebu, which witnessed the Philippines’ first live connection to the Internet in the mid-90s, stakes another claim to the country’s technology history as it hosts the first Philippine Open Source Summit (POSS) slated this June.

Open source stakeholders, user groups, advocates, and enthusiasts across the world are expected to converge in Cebu for the two-day conference, which will carry the theme, “Understanding the Business Value of Open Source.”

Spearheaded by the Cebu Business Month 2008 ICT Committee, the summit will be held on June 23 to 24, 2008 at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City. GMANews.TV

A team of Cebu-based companies are looking at a potential market for IT services in South Korea following a visit to country’s version of Silicon Valley.

Organized by the Cebu Business Chamber of Commerce, a delegation of 18 companies visited South Korea last month. Among other places, the group visited Daedok Innopolis in the city of Daejon, dubbed the Silicon Valley of Korea. More…

Cebu City is among the only two cities in the country chosen to present their solid waste management strategies at the CityWaste Asia 2008 in Singapore - a gathering of over 100 Asian cities aimed at enhancing city competitiveness through cost-effective solid waste management initiatives.

City councilor Nestor Archival, himself an advocate of recycling, will fly to Singapore next month to speak on behalf of the city government at the Rasa Sentosa Resort. Archival will tackle effective policies and regulations in managing waste problems in mega cities and effective waste management and outsourcing strategies for municipal waste.

The other local government unit from the Philippines is Marikina City, which will be represented by Gloria Buenaventura, head of the city’s waste management office. More…

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 reported a 7.44-percent increase in visitor arrivals in Cebu from January to February this year from a year ago.

DOT records also show that there was an 8.85-percent increase in foreign travelers and 6.25-percent growth in domestic travelers coming to Cebu for the first two months of the year.

There were 127,561 foreign travelers and 147,638 domestics visitors, totaling 275,199 visitors. Sun.Star Cebu

Proudly Cebuana Raki Vega sings duet with Martin Nievera on “Ikaw ang Pangarap”, the official soundtrack of ABS-CBN Primetime teleserye, Lobo. Raki is the 2005 Born DIVA Champion, won several awards from Broadway last year and an NGenius IT Hub product endorser in Cebu. The MTV is directed by Mark Ocampo and edited by Ramil Aznar.

The Cebu provincial government has planned to install solar-power system in Malapascua Island, after the island fell into a blackout, from April 28 to last week, when its only generator conked out.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia had raised this idea earlier when she saw the solar and windmill power system installed at the 4-hectare property of environmentalist lawyer Antonio Oposa in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island.

Oposa named his property the “School of the Seas” and he told the governor then that his sources of energy could generate a total of 1,000 watts. More…