The Philippines has one of the largest mineral reserves in the world. Among the metallic minerals, the largest reserve is copper, which is estimated at 4 billion metric tons (MT). This makes the Philippines the fourth largest country in the world in terms of copper reserves.

Building on the establishment of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR) located in the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE), the Board of Investments of the Department of Trade and Industry envisions the establishment of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ)  to encourage the clustering of copper-related manufacturing activities.

The LEIZ is anchored on the Copper Industry Roadmap (CIR) — a critical component for the full integration of the copper industry value chain. The copper industry hopes to establish a sustainable and fully integrated value chain from sustainable mining to downstream manufacturing, where value is optimized together with the development of domestically produced, copper-using commodities such as wire harnesses, high-efficiency motors and appliances, and power and distribution transformers to serve both local and global markets.

For the development of the master development plan, an integrative analysis of various development indicators and key infrastructure throughout the Province of Leyte was conducted to identify sites where an industrial and mixed-used development could be located. The master development plan aims to guide the development to attain optimal land use, efficiency, and sustainability in transportation systems, environmental protection, and responsible administration, among others.