Board of Investments wants e-vehicle policy, incentives enacted into law
THE Board of Investments (BoI) wants to offer incentives to local manufacturers of electric vehicles to encourage the growth of the industry, off icials of the agency said on Thursday.
“It’s a new industry and we want the Philippines to be in a position in the future that we will not lag behind,” Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba told reporters on the sidelines of the First ASEAN Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit at the World Trade Center Manila in Pasay City.
She said to encourage the growth of electric vehicles ( EV), which are currently expensive, manufacturers need support in the form of incentives. She said the BoI, the investment promotion arm of the Department of Industry (DTI), wants the perks to be contained in a law.
“It’s a new technology and just like any new technology it’s expensive,” she said.
Ms. Aldaba said the incentives are to be separate from the perks some industries enjoy with the extension of an executive order that exempts qualified business enterprises from paying duties when they acquire from other countries capital equipment as certified by BoI.
She also said the legislated incentives that the department is working on are apart from those contained in Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, the proposed legislation passed by the House of Representatives last month, which exempts e-vehicles from the value-added tax.
“We will also be crafting a more comprehensive EV policy, meaning not only incentives but including the passage of a law,” she said.
She said without a law and its implementation, e-vehicles will not be successful because e- vehicle batteries, which account for the bulk of a unit’s cost, remain expensive. She added that a comprehensive policy is needed as the industry requires a “complete ecosystem” that includes not just manufacturing but a battery charging infrastructure.
“We’re having a workshop next month to review the current status of the electric vehicle industry, the trends and the how the future of the [electric] automobile is going to be,” she said.
Ms. Aldaba said details of the incentives are among the outcomes of the “stock taking” next month, which will also involve other government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Energy and Department of Transportation.
During yesterday’s summit, representatives from electric vehicle organizations within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a memorandum of agreement to form the ASEAN Federation of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Association.
The agreement aims, among others, to support regulatory alignment on electric and hybrid vehicles standards. It also seeks to encourage and facilitate the exchange of relevant information and best practices among the association’s members and other similar international groups.
Rommel T. Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, said the regional grouping plans to convene at least once a year with a rotating hosting and chairmanship among its members. —