Ceza, partner to build Cagayan integrated city
THE Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) has entered into an understanding with a Singaporean firm for the putting up of a $4.5-billion integrated city in Cagayan.
The integrated city will feature deluxe hotels, casinos, golf courses and a digital park for cryptocurrency operations. It will be designed by Italian firm Mercurio Design Lab and will be developed, operated and managed by Singapore-based Longrunn Capital Pte. Ltd.
“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 Raul L. Lambino, administrator and CEO of the Ceza.
Lambino represented the Ceza in signing the memorandum of understanding with Mercurio and Longrunn. The project is penciled to be finished in two years, which Lambino branded as the “other big surprise.”
The integrated city will be named City Polaris, he said. It will be linked to the town of Lal-lo, 60 kilometers to the southwest and location of the Cagayan North International Airport.
The project will combine some of the best innovations of 21st century technology, Lambino said, as well as the “unsurpassed luxury of nature” found in Santa Ana, where it will be situated.
The memorandum also covers an agreement for LongRunn to upgrade, expand and modernize the airport in Lal-lo with the construction of additional facilities. This will include hangars, cargo warehouses, power and waste plants and duty-free shopping malls with high-end restaurants.
On top of this, LongRunn committed to pour in investments for the establishment of a regional airline company. Under the memorandum, it is also mandated to conduct an international marketing program and produce promotional materials for the presale of facilities and units at City Polaris.
The Ceza will hand over to LongRunn a master license for the development and operation of land-based online gaming. This is aside the various fiscal perks granted to locators.
The incentives 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’s golf club.