The Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport in Sta. Ana, Cagayan will be home to a $4.5-billion seaside resort, after the government signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore developer LongRunn Capital Pte. Ltd. and Mercurio Design Lab.
“We have never anticipated a project of this magnitude. This will be a game changer in our efforts to develop the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport,” said Cagayan Economic Zone Authority president and chief executive Raul Lambino.
Lambino said Ceza was overwhelmed by the rapid inflow of investments starting with the contracts and pledges from financial technology companies that came in the middle of 2018.
LongRunn Capital, an offshore financing firm based in Singapore, committed to finish the project in two years following the signing of the MOU, said LongRunn Capital chairman and chief executive Li Jianmin James.
Lambino said City Polaris, named after the North Star, would combine some of the best innovations of 21st-century technology and the “unsurpassed luxury of nature” in Sta. Ana, the emerging epicenter of development in Northern Luzon.
The MoU also covers an agreement for LongRunn Capital to upgrade, expand and modernize the airport in Lal-lo with the construction of additional facilities such as hangars, cargo warehouses, power and waste plants and duty free shopping malls with high-end restaurants.
A new expressway would link the seaside city to Lal-lo town, 60 kms to the southwest and site of the Cagayan North International Airport, whose carrying capacity would be upgraded with the addition of two three-kilometer runways and a multi-story passenger terminal, Lambino said.
City Polaris would be a compact development that will also feature upscale residential buildings, a sprawling business park, civic center, tertiary hospital, condominium buildings, premium villas and online gaming operations.
LongRunn Capital would also invest in the establishment of a regional airline company.
Under the MOU, the company would conduct a global marketing program and produce promotional materials for the pre-sale of facilities and units at City Polaris.
Ceza will extend to LongRunnCapital a master license for the development and operation of land-based and online gaming in addition to various fiscal incentives being offered by the agency.
These include the grant of permanent residency status for foreign investors and immediate family members with an investment of $150,000 and lifetime membership in the City Polaris Golf Club.
