This developed during a recent consultation meeting conducted by officials of PPA-Port Management Office of San Fernando where stakeholders included board member Mariano V. Marcos II, Curimao Mayor Rosario C. Go, Col. William T. Fariñas, Richard O. Guerrero, Capt. Romeo Raquedan and Onofre T. Menor who attended the meeting.

Sevilla, a lawyer and a veteran hand in port management and shipping administration and former administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), explained that the port of Curimao is a "principal port of entry," and is open for both foreign and domestic trade. And since it is located southwest side of Ilocos Norte facing South China Sea, the proponents considered the project to be "viable" as the port is strategically nearer to other Asian countries, and Ilocos has a lot to offer as far as tourism is concerned.

The proposed construction of a cruise ship berth at the port will cost about R240 million.

At present, he said, cargoes handled at the port are mostly fertilizers, feldspar, petro products and cement.

Several investors already visited the port of Curimao and the private port of Ilocos Norte Mining Co., Inc. (INMCI), and manifested their interest to use these ports as alternate gateways for domestic and foreign shipments like iron ore, limestone, aggregates and manganese ore.

One of the mining firms that started its operations is the Rigid Aggregates and Mining Corporation (RAMC), which entered into a contract with NMCI for the joint utilization of the latter’s conveyor facilities in Gabut, Norte, Badoc, Ilocos Norte, and started the exportation of iron ore to China in August last year.

According to Sevilla, another factor that contributes to the viability of the port is the conferment of ISO 9001:2000 Certification of Quality Management System (CQMS) to Aurum Pacific Consolidated, Inc. (APCI) – the authorized cargo handling operator of the port of Curimao. ACPI is the first cargo handling operator outside Metro Manila to be ISO compliant. The award was conferred to APCI by TUV Nord Philippines, a subsidiary of TUV Germany.