Speaking at the 24th ASEAN Ports & Logistics conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, held on July 7 to 9, APECO President and Chief Executive Officer Gil G. Taway IV invited regional stakeholders to explore investment opportunities in the proposed Casiguran International New Port (CINP) in Aurora.
Taway said this could serve as a complementary logistics hub with direct access to the Pacific Ocean.
Expanding ASEAN's maritime network beyond its traditional western gateways, he said in a statement, would provide businesses with greater route flexibility and redundancy as global trade patterns evolve.
Strategic shift
"Global trade finds itself navigating one of the most complex geopolitical environments in recent history," 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."
He said Pacific-facing ports and logistics hubs could function as redundancy nodes for ASEAN, helping ensure business continuity during disruptions affecting major shipping corridors.
According to Taway, seven of ASEAN's 10 largest export markets—including the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Mexico—are accessible through the Pacific Ocean.
The United States accounted for 16 percent of ASEAN exports in 2024, followed by China at 15 percent and Japan at 8.5 percent, based on ASEAN data.
Growing demand
Despite the importance of Pacific markets, Taway noted that much of ASEAN's maritime infrastructure has historically developed around western trade routes, particularly ports along the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea.
He said increasing trade volumes across Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific region are placing greater pressure on existing ports.
From 2019 to 2025, major ports serving Pacific trade routes recorded double-digit growth, with throughput rising between 11 percent and 59 percent.
Among the world's busiest ports in 2025 were Shanghai with 55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), Singapore with 45 million TEUs, Ningbo-Zhoushan with 44 million TEUs, Busan with 25 million TEUs, and Malaysia's Port Klang with 15 million TEUs, citing industry analyst Alphaliner.
Taway noted that several Asian ports now handle larger cargo volumes than Europe's biggest ports, including Rotterdam and Antwerp.
Complementary hub
APECO is positioning the Casiguran International New Port as a Pacific-facing transshipment and logistics hub that would complement, rather than compete with, the region's established gateways.
"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.
Future corridor
Taway also highlighted APECO's potential role in the emerging "Golden Waterway," or Arctic Route, which is being explored as an alternative Asia-Europe shipping corridor.
If the route becomes commercially viable, he said, vessels traveling from Northern Europe could reach the Pacific through the Arctic, reducing reliance on traditional chokepoints such as the Suez Canal and further reshaping global trade routes.
He said positioning Pacific-facing infrastructure today would allow ASEAN to capitalize on future shifts in international shipping while strengthening the region's long-term logistics resilience. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
