The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) is positioning the Casiguran, Aurora-based ecozone as an attractive investment hub for the defense, entertainment, and retirement sectors as it plans to intensify its promotion activities this year.

APECO has received a budget of ₱381.54 million under the ₱6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, 49 percent higher than last year’s allocation of ₱256.02 million.

With the higher funding, APECO President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gil Taway IV said the investment promotion agency (IPA) will mount more trade missions to entice investments, particularly from abroad.

In March, Taway said they are set to embark on an investment trip to the United States (US) to promote the ecozone to defense manufacturers in Washington, DC, and Virginia.

APECO is primarily gunning for defense companies involved in arms manufacturing and supply chain logistics.

“We are actually planning an anchor event in DC, where we will gather the smallest to the biggest defense companies in DC and Virginia,” Taway told reporters.

The IPA has been positioning the ecozone as a viable hub for defense investments, leveraging its strategic position on the country’s eastern seaboard and direct access to Pacific Ocean.

It is aiming to welcome its first investor from the sector within the quarter, with a planned investment from Virginia-based defense supply chain firm Anglicotech LLC.

While the company is already operating in Subic through its supply chain operations, its expansion in APECO will focus on manufacturing drones and ammunition, marking the first facility of its kind outside the US.

With the relatively small defense industry in the country, APECO is hoping that such an investment would make it the go-to hub for defense companies.

Another key sector for the IPA is entertainment, which will be given priority in its investment mission to Los Angeles, California, in hopes of securing interest from film studios.

The long-term target for APECO is to find an investor to help build a production facility in Casiguran town, leveraging Aurora province’s world-class scenery, which has served as backdrop for several films. Among the most famous is director Francis Ford Coppola, who used the beachfront of Baler town for his 1979 Vietnam War epic, “Apocalypse Now.”

Apart from the US, APECO is also planning a mission to Japan, this time focusing on the retirement sector.

The IPA said it recently held a meeting with Osaka-based company Long Life Corp. to discuss prospects for investing in the ecozone.

Through these investments, APECO business development and marketing division manager Gene Angelo Ferrer said the IPA is hoping to become sustainable enough to no longer need budgetary support from the government.

While the APECO has no investment targets this year in terms of value, Ferrer said their short-term goal is to be able to fund operations at a level comparable to other IPAs in the country.

“What we want is to be self-sustaining and not need to request [support] from the government,” he said.