It consists of the highly urbanized city of Iloilo City; the regional agro-industrial center of Pavia; the municipalities of Cabatuan, Leganes, Oton, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara; and the neighboring island province of Guimaras, with its five municipalities of Jordan, Buenavista, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo, and Sibunag.

The Metropolitan Iloilo Development Council (MIDC) was created through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) dated February 9, 2001, by the City of Iloilo, along with four nearby municipalities: Oton, Pavia, San Miguel, and Leganes, to foster collaborative approaches aimed primarily at the economic and urbanization growth of the area.

The Guimaras-Iloilo City Alliance (GICA) was also similarly created through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) entered into by Iloilo City and the Province of Guimaras on May 22, 2005, to effect mutually beneficial economic development with a special focus on tourism and infrastructure development.

The agency formulates, coordinates, and monitors programs, projects, and activities for the acceleration of the economic growth and development of the City of Iloilo, the Municipalities of Oton, San Miguel, Pavia, Leganes, Santa Barbara, and Cabatuan, all of the Province of Iloilo, and the entire Province of Guimaras, in support of the Mega-Region Economic Development Strategy of the National Government.

These include the management of port facilities, telecommunications infrastructure, utilities, agriculture, banking and finance, retail trading, real estate, tourism, and business process outsourcing (BPO).

The metropolis plays a crucial role in facilitating trade and commerce, attracting investments, and driving economic progress.

[2] Iloilo City, the municipalities of Pavia, Oton, and Santa Barbara serve as significant commercial and business centers within the metropolitan area.

Notable products include farm implements, milled rice, poultry and livestock feeds, noodles, soft drinks, dressed chicken, cooking oil, furniture, concrete products, polyurethane foam, and industrial and medical gases.

The presence of prestigious manufacturing establishments such as Coca-Cola Bottlers, Phils., Vitarich Corporation, Pryce Gases, Inc., Mandaue Foam Industries, Panay Tropical Grains Milling Corp., and Jaspe Light Steel Indus contributes to Pavia's economic significance.

[3] Guimaras, a province within the metropolitan area, thrives on its agricultural sector, with major products including mangoes, palay, coconuts, livestock, poultry, and fishing.

Being the major economic and financial center of Western Visayas, Metro Iloilo–Guimaras has attracted numerous banking institutions.

It opened its doors to commercial traffic on June 14, 2007, after a decade of planning and construction, replacing Mandurriao Airport in Iloilo City proper which had been in service for over seventy years.

The Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council, or MIGEDC, was formally established by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through Executive Order No.

Velma Jane Lao, MIGEDC Executive Director, is also on the work on the expansion of the council and will be confirming if the other municipalities that have long signified to join are still interested.

[12] As a strengthened task group, the MIGEDC formulates, implements, coordinates, and monitors programs, projects, and activities that support the Mega-Region Economic Development Strategic Framework of the National Government.