PH to host 1st Business Forum with Indonesia’s KADIN to unlock investment opportunities in Aurora’s Ecozone

The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) will host the 1st APECO Business Forum on August 23, 2025 in Pasay City, in partnership with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), marking a new chapter in the ecozone’s drive to attract international investors.

A 55-member KADIN delegation, led by Chairman Anindya Bakrie, will visit Manila from August 21 to 23. The delegation comprises senior executives from key industries, including infrastructure, agriculture, food and beverage, healthcare, finance, mining, shipping, aviation, and technology. Adding to the forum’s significance, Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara, which manages USD 900 billion in assets, will also take part.

The forum will feature keynote addresses from Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.

Participation from Philippine government agencies underscores strong national and local support for the ecozone’s reset under “Bagong APECO.” The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will present updates on the APECO Airport development, while the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) will highlight plans for the Casiguran Seaport. The Provincial Government of Aurora will outline its priority investment projects, complemented by the regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which will share their ongoing initiatives in partnership with APECO.

“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,” said APECO President and CEO Atty. Gil G. Taway IV.

The forum aims to identify synergies between APECO and Indonesian enterprises, particularly in seaport and airport infrastructure, the coconut and fisheries industries, eco-tourism development, renewable energy projects, and the ecozone’s emerging role as the Philippines’ first national defense hub. By positioning the Casiguran-based ecozone as a strategic staging point on the Pacific, APECO offers Indonesian firms a gateway for exports to Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

As an investment promotion agency, APECO emphasized its commitment to align local opportunities with regional and national priorities, ensuring that foreign partnerships foster inclusive growth for both Aurora and the country.

With its strategic location on the eastern seaboard, APECO envisions Aurora as a rising transshipment and logistics hub linking Southeast Asia with the wider Pacific region.