PARAÑAQUE CITY — The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) will host the 1st APECO Business Forum on 23 August 2025 in Pasay City in partnership with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), signaling a new phase in the ecozone’s push to attract global investors.
A 55-member delegation from KADIN, led by Chairman Anindya Bakrie, will be in Manila from 21-23 August 2025. The group includes senior executives from sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, food and beverage, healthcare, finance, mining, shipping, aviation, and technology.
Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara, with assets under management valued at USD900 billion, will also participate in the business forum.
The 1st APECO Business Forum shall include keynote addresses from Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.
National government agencies and local government units joining the forum include the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) who will discuss the APECO Airport and Casiguran Seaport development respectively, the Provincial Government of Aurora who will identify priority investment opportunities in the region, as well as the regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) who will share the current projects they respectively have with APECO.
Their participation signals high-level recognition of the ecozone’s reset under “Bagong APECO” and underscores growing confidence in Aurora’s role as the country’s emerging gateway to the Pacific.
“This is a historic moment for APECO. For the first time, we are receiving and hosting a foreign business mission. The trust and confidence shown by KADIN and its members reflect the growing recognition of Aurora and the eastern seaboard as an investment frontier,” APECO President and CEO Atty. Gil G. Taway IV said.
The business forum aims to identify areas of synergy between APECO and Indonesian enterprises, positioning the Casiguran-based ecozone as a strategic staging point on the Pacific, offering Indonesian firms a gateway for exports to major markets such as Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
Discussions will include APECO’s investment landscape, from its seaport and airport infrastructure to its coconut and fisheries industries, eco-tourism destinations, renewable energy potential, and positioning the ecozone as the Philippines first national defense hub.
As an investment promotion agency, APECO underscored its role in linking local opportunities to regional and national development priorities, ensuring that foreign partnerships translate into inclusive growth for both Aurora and the country.
With its location on the country’s eastern seaboard, APECO envisions Aurora as an emerging transshipment and logistics hub linking Southeast Asia to the wider Pacific region. (Manny D. Balbin)
