APECO lures U.S., Canadian defense, energy, digital investors

The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) is leading an investment mission to the United States and Canada to pitch its Casiguran-based ecozone as an investment destination for defense-related industries, clean energy, and data center projects.

APECO president and CEO Undersecretary Gil G. Taway IV will head the delegation from 24 to 30 October, and to Canada from 2 to 6 November to engage investors through a series of investment briefings, site visits, and government-to-business meetings in Texas, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the US; and in Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary in Canada.

APECO intends to highlight the advantages of investing in the 12,923-hectare Pacific-facing ecozone and the expanded fiscal and non-fiscal incentives provided under the CREATE MORE Act.

“As a Pacific-facing ecozone, we can be a reliable investment location for investors looking to establish presence in the Philippines, access the broader region, and take advantage of the two major economies’ multimillion-dollar Indo-Pacific strategies,” Taway said.

“This mission will allow us to meet prospective American and Canadian investors and develop future projects that benefit the strategic but still untapped Aurora,” he added.

For the US leg, the outbound mission will follow through on APECO’s initial talks with American firms, including defense company Anglicotech LLC and global consulting firm Valent, and conduct a roundtable discussion with the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Texas and a networking reception with the US-Philippines Society hosted by Planate Management Group.

The investment promotion agency (IPA) will also sign deals on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation and substation facilities in the zone as well as defense-related economic activities in APECO.

APECO is in close coordination with the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Washington D.C., and the Philippine Consulate General in Houston, Texas for its outbound mission to the US.

In Canada, the delegation will then hold the investment briefings in Montreal and Calgary.

Around 100 business executives and representatives in infrastructure, energy, mining, critical minerals, defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics, among others, are expected to attend the two events.

APECO’s investment briefings in Canada are in partnership with the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary, and the PTIC in Toronto.

Global tax policy expert and founder of Asian Consulting Group Mon Abrea will also join the IPA during the two investment briefings, promoting the Philippines and APECO as an investment destination.

“We see strong opportunities to build partnerships with American and Canadian businesses, who have the resources, technology and established expertise to drive the zone’s growth and development,” the APECO chief said.

“The US and Canada both place greater focus on creating an open and more connected Indo-Pacific and have been increasing investments in infrastructure and clean energy to make supply chains in the region more resilient. This opens up opportunities for us to introduce what APECO and its strategic investment location has to offer,” he added.

APECO is situated on the eastern seaboard of the country, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, making it ideal for locators looking for sites with direct maritime access to major markets across the globe, including the US, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

It also acts as a complementary node for the Luzon Economic Corridor and caters to investors eyeing alternative locations outside the main western routes of the trilateral initiative being undertaken by the Philippines, the US and Japan.