en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) promoted the Casiguran Port development project at the 24th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Ports and Logistics Conference, positioning it as a complementary logistics hub facing the Pacific, aiming to provide alternative routes for ASEAN trade and reduce dependence on western maritime gateways. APECO President and CEO, Undersecretary Gil Taway IV, stated at the conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that current ASEAN trade relies excessively on a few established western gateway routes, making the trade system vulnerable to disruptions in the event of congestion or geopolitical tensions in the Malacca Strait or the South China Sea.

Citing ASEAN export data, Taway noted that in 2024, seven of ASEAN's top ten trading partners could be accessed directly via the Pacific, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Mexico. The United States accounted for 16% of ASEAN's total exports, followed by China at 15%, Japan at 8.5%, Hong Kong at 6.2%, and South Korea at 5.7%. Despite seven of the top ten export markets being accessible via the Pacific, ASEAN's maritime infrastructure remains primarily developed along western maritime gateways, such as ports along the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea. Between 2019 and 2025, throughput growth at major Asian ports serving Pacific routes ranged from 11% to 59%. In 2025, the Port of Shanghai handled 55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the Port of Singapore 45 million TEUs, the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan 44 million TEUs, the Port of Busan 25 million TEUs, and the Port of Klang 15 million TEUs. These throughput figures rank among the world's 30 busiest ports according to industry analyst Alphaliner, with individual ports surpassing Europe's largest hubs, the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Antwerp.

Taway introduced that the new Casiguran International Port in Aurora Province is positioned as a Pacific-facing hub capable of handling transshipment, logistics, consolidation, cold chain, value-added processing, and export-oriented manufacturing. He clarified that the port is not intended to replace Shanghai, Singapore, Klang, Busan, or existing hubs, but rather to provide redundancy, route flexibility, and a new option for direct access to Pacific markets. APECO also highlighted the long-term potential of the Arctic route, known as the "Golden Waterway." Taway noted that if this route becomes commercially viable at scale, vessels from Northern Europe could reach the Pacific via the Arctic, reducing reliance on traditional routes such as the Suez Canal, thereby reshaping the geographical landscape of Eurasian trade.