Cebu Convention Center

The Cebu Convention Center (Cebu International Convention Center, CICC) is a structure built by the Cebu Provincial Government in time for the 12th Asean Summit in January 2007 and the 2nd East Asia Summit at a cost of more or less US$10-million Dollars.

It is a three-story structure with a gross floor area of 28,000 square meters and situated on 3.8 hectares of land at the Mandaue City Reclamation Area in Metro Cebu.

Background

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in late 2005, decided that Cebu City would host the 12th ASEAN Summit and 2nd East Asia Summit in December 2006, which was later moved to January 12-15, 2007 due to a typhoon. Myanmar was the supposed original host for the said summit for the year 2006 but they backed out.

Though Cebu province is known for tourist spots, white sand beaches, and swaying palm trees, it didn’t own a stand alone convention center with complete facilities for a prestigious international gathering as big as the ASEAN Summit. Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia revitalized the original megadome project but with the design revised as a convention center instead of a sports center.

A new design was conceptualized and eventually considered since it was cheaper and easier to build considering the time constraint that the Cebu Provincial Government was running into. In April 2006, construction work began and on the superstructure itself, which was entirely made up of structural steel, glass and aluminum cladding, work began three months later.

Cebu’s furniture industry was also highly admired by the participants during the 2006 ASEAN summit. Renowned for their world-class designs, craftsmanship, and art, furniture makers volunteered to furnish rooms and to provide other furniture at the CICC. Cebu, being the host, gave the local furniture industry the chance to put its best foot forward.

Features

The Cebu Convention Center features an International Media Center, a large Plenary Hall, an Exhibition Hall, and several Meeting Rooms. The Cebu International Convention Center is an ideal venue for conventions, meetings, events, trade shows, business conference, sports arena, meeting space, class reunion, concerts, corporate events, expositions, expo, conference center, large weddings, wedding reception, and special events.

Historical Location

The City of Mandaue is a 1st class city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. It is known as the "Emerging Convention City in Asia." The city is one of two highly urbanized cities in the province of Cebu , and form the core of the Metropolitan Cebu area.

Where the Cebu Convention Center is built is a very important historical landmark of Mandaue City. Where this convention center sits is witness to Mandaue's involvement in trade and international relations even before its discovery by western explorers. This was once a beautiful bay known to service the trading vessels from neighboring places before the continent was known to be Asia. This bay was chosen by the western explorers to service the ships of the Galleon trade and the Acapulco trade as a dry-docking facility.

The Cebu Convention Center serves as monument to this historical landmark, in recognition of Mandaue’s involvement in the international stage since the beginning of its history.