THE Aurora Pacific Economic Zone Authority (APECO) is working on a new master plan that will divide its area into different zones to attract investment, spanning aviation, agri-aqua, tourism and other industrial operations.
APECO President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gil Taway IV, in a briefing on Friday, said while the Authority continues to groom the Aurora ecozone into a defense hub, it believes it can attract complementary industries.
He said it was time the government agencies and investment promotion agencies supported the national government actively in enhancing the country’s defense capabilities “and APECO has what it takes to be a defense hub.”
“We are in the middle of all the countries in the Indo-Pacific Corridor. We have Sierra Madre shielding us from potential flashpoints. We are close to the US Pacific Fleet in Guam and Honolulu,” Taway added.
He said APECO is also looking at developing its airport, including extending the airport’s runway by 1.3 kilometers to accommodate chartered flights, as well as constructing a three-story air traffic control tower, a passenger terminal and an administration building.
Taway said APECO has also updated its master plan by moving the agri-aqua zone from Parcel 1 to Parcel 2 due to limited space.
“But we retained the agro-industrial part or the processing part and Parcel 1. Parcel 1 is only 496 hectares while Parcel 2 measures 2,247 hectares,” he added.
Angelo Gabriel Mantuano, APECO deputy administrator, in the same briefing said the economic zone will also have a business district equipped with infrastructure and facilities catering to corporate services industry hubs and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.
“The old master plan was a hodgepodge of zones. There’s an industrial zone here, then there’s a commercial zone next to it, then there’s another one next to it. It’s not integrated,” Mantuano said. “So, what we did in the master plan, we made sure that the actual districts, the actual zones make sense to be next to each other. And then they are actually larger to support the types of spaces.”
Some of the components of the zones will be undertaken by the private sector through joint venture, he added.
Taway said the master plan will be presented to the board in September.
