The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) has urged port developers to build ASEAN’s next-generation maritime facilities and industries in areas facing the Pacific Ocean.

During the ‘24th ASEAN Ports & Logistics’ forum at Sofitel Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday, APECO president and CEO Undersecretary Gil Taway IV said Pacific-facing ports and logistics hubs will serve as redundancy nodes for the region to ensure resiliency amid rising geopolitical uncertainties and growing pressure on existing maritime gateways.

The APECO chief urged ports and logistics stakeholders in ASEAN to explore their next expansion in APECO by investing in the Casiguran International New Port (CINP) and bringing their operations to the Aurora-based ecozone, which has direct access to the Pacific.

“Global trade finds itself navigating one of the most complex geopolitical environments in recent history,” Undersecretary Taway said. “We already learned the hard lesson: when trade becomes too dependent on a few congested routes and a few established gateways, any disruption can quickly become a delay, a cost, or a lost opportunity.”

Taway pointed out that it is logical to position ASEAN’s next-generation ports facing the Pacific Ocean as the bloc’s top trading partners are economies that can be accessed through the Pacific.

Citing ASEAN’s data, the United States is the region’s largest export market in 2024, accounting for 16 percent of its total exports, followed by China (15 percent), Japan (8.5 percent), Hong Kong (6.2 percent), and South Korea (5.7 percent).

Taiwan, Australia, and Mexico are also the top destinations for ASEAN goods in 2024.

“Despite 7 out of the 10 top export markets of ASEAN being accessible through the Pacific, ASEAN's maritime infrastructure has naturally developed along its western maritime gateways such as ports along the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, the primary gateways for international commerce,” Taway said.

He also mentioned that the growing economy and trade from developing countries, including ASEAN member states, will put additional pressure on Southeast and East Asia’s major ports.

From 2019 to 2025, major ports in the region serving the Pacific route recorded double-digit growth, with throughput increasing from 11 to 59 percent.

Last year, Shanghai Port handled cargo volume of 55 million twenty-equivalent units (TEUs), Singapore at 45 million TEUs; Ningbo-Zhoushan at 44 million TEUs, Busan at 25 million TEUs, and Malaysia’s Port Klang at 15 million TEUs in cargo handling in 2025. These ports are among the 30 busiest ports in the world according to industry analyst Alphaliner.

Individual throughput of these Asian ports even surpassed Europe’s largest ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp.

“Through our proposed Casiguran International New Port, a flagship infrastructure project of APECO, we offer ASEAN a new Pacific-facing platform for transshipment, logistics, consolidation, cold chain, value-added processing, and export-oriented manufacturing,” Taway said.

“It is not being proposed to replace Shanghai, Singapore, Port Klang, Busan, or any of the region’s established hubs. It is being positioned as a complementary Pacific-facing transshipment and logistics hub; a new option for businesses that need redundancy, route flexibility, and direct access to Pacific markets,” he added.

Moreover, APECO also positioned itself as ASEAN’s future gateway as the “Golden Waterway”, or the Arctic Route, being developed for a reconfigured Asia-Europe trade corridor.

“If this route becomes commercially viable at scale, vessels from Northern Europe could reach the Pacific through the Arctic, reducing dependence on traditional chokepoints such as the Suez Canal and reshaping the geography of Europe-Asia trade,” the APECO chief said.