“The logistics center for grains, the country’s next technohub, and the gateway to a rich tourism frontier.”

For some other corporation, this vision may sound difficult to achieve in three to five years, but for the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), this feat is not impossible.

In fact, CEZA is almost there despite being only on its eighth year of operations, says Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Secretary Jose Mari B. Ponce.

“From a losing government corporation before, CEZA has managed to rank 13th highest performing among the 120 government corporations in the Philippines in 2013,” the Secretary affirmed.

In his report during the 105th meeting of the Regional Development Council 2 (RDC2) with its Advisory Committee (Adcom), Sec. Ponce averred that because of the rapid development at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port, CEZA emerged as the top tax payer in Region 2.

“We hope to move up the rank from 13th to 10th by the end of 2014,” Sec. Ponce said as he welcomed the members of the RDC2 and the Adcom to the meeting, which CEZA hosted at the Cagayan Holiday and Leisure Resort in Sta. Ana, Cagayan on October 13, 2014.

The administrator further shared that the Cagayan Free Port now has a highly rated telecommunication network that boosts its online interactive gaming operations or the iGaming Industry — the first in Asia.

Moreover, the report showed that the presence of several gaming facilities at the Free Port has attracted tourists from all over Asia and other countries as well. In fact, through intensified promotion and marketing strategies for the resort and for Palaui Island in Sta. Ana, a total of 127,333 tourist arrivals were recorded in 2013 alone.

“Palaui Island is now ranked the 10th best beach destination in the world, according to a CNN report,” Sec. Ponce stated. “These excellent marketing strategies also brought to Sta. Ana the US-based TV show Survivor which filmed two seasons of their series in Palaui Island.”

CEZA also continues to become a leading employment generator, contributing the highest number of employment in the Region in 2013 at about 12,000.

This is envisioned to increase rapidly as CEZA is also planning to establish a business process outsourcing (BPO) industry at the Cagayan Free Port. Through collaborations with the Commission on Higher Education and with colleges and universities in Region 2, CEZA will conduct a talent test in February 2015 to determine whether the Region’s college graduates are qualified to work in BPOs.

The CEZA administrator also stated that “these accomplishments in the fast growth and development of the Cagayan Free Port all lead to the vision that CEZA aims to achieve.”

“Port Irene is being developed to become the logistics center for grains and other agricultural products in this part of Luzon Island. Our state-of-the-art telecommunications network makes us the technohub in the Northern Philippines, and we are truly the gateway to Northern Luzon’s tourism frontier through the full operation of the Cagayan North International Airport in nearby Lallo municipality,” the Secretary expressed.#