Cagayan ecozone takes cyber jump in 21st century

MANILA, Philippines - Halfway between Manila and Kaoshiung, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) is just 45 minutes by jet from the country’s powerhouse and Taiwan’s industrial and shipping giant.

It is a premium beachfront location - overlooking where the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea meet.

 “It’s not just an attraction, but a gatekeeper to three-billion consumers in East Asian tiger countries and the huge markets of North America,” said Jack Enrile, economic and development consultant for his father, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, CEZA authorities and Cagayan Gov. Alvaro Antonio.

Like the valley where it nestles, 640 kilometers north of Manila at the northeastern tip of Luzon, the free port is home to white sand beaches, giant narra trees, the expensive black tuna- and what is also called the Cagayan Cyber Park.

The cyber park is under development on 10 hectares with a state-of-the-art Internet data center with fiber optics that is expected to generate some 3,500 new jobs.

A government owned and controlled corporation operated by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the sprawling 54,000-hectare complex spans Santa Ana and Aparri towns and the islands of Fuga, Barit and Mabbag, all parts of the Cagayan province.

CEZA is the jewel of the crown of what was once a sleepy port town just about to leap into the 21st Century.

It buzzes with fiber-optic, wireless global connections; cyber industrial parks and business process call centers; and online gaming casinos, multimillion-peso resorts and theme parks – all just a short hop from the world-class Port Irene international freight and shipping yard in Sta. Ana and an international airport in Lallo town, with connections to China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and beyond.

The international airport, which starts operations next year, is designed to accommodate Boeing 737s.

Meanwhile, CEZA has developed the San Vicente airstrip to accommodate smaller chartered flights from Manila. Under a joint use agreement with the Philippine Navy, CEZA finalized the widening of the airstrip and started utilizing the facility since last year.

Governor Antonio told a group of investors that larger aircraft are also using the Tuguegarao airport, 150 kilometers away, which presently caters to international chartered flights to and from Macau, and has a frequency of two flights per week, bringing tourists to Sta. Ana.

According to Jack Enrile, between P5 billion to P6 billion will be used for the construction of the international airport and P4 billion to P5 billion for the construction of Port Irene zone, being developed into a major transshipment hub of international standards.

The port’s existing pier will be rehabilitated and lengthened to accommodate 20,000 deadweight tons vessels while the seven-hectare port area will be turned into a container yard with a capacity of 17,000 20-foot equivalent units.

The development of the port will come in two phases, the construction of a breakwater to protect the port from strong currents and waves, and the lengthening of the pier and development of the container yard.

The P400-million, 250-meter first stage breakwater was constructed in 2007 with funding by CEZA Equity Funds. The breakwater is in Barangay Cacambalangan. The extension of the existing pier has an estimated cost of P2.986 billion.

The P3-billion Phase I breakwater project was completed in 2005 while the second stage of the P1.4-billion breakwater project at Port Irene is 40-percent complete.

The development of the seaport would be undertaken on a build-operate transfer (BOT) scheme by the ASEAN Pacific International Terminals Inc., which is now owned by Filipino-owned Burgundy Group of Co.

“The goal is by 2010 all the infrastructure facilities are already operational including additional power capacity, roads and bridges,” said CEZA administrator Jose Mari Ponce.

Established in 1995, CEZA is in fact the country’s fastest-growing industrial, logistics and tourism hub that could give Hong Kong and Singapore a run for their money.