South-east Asia beefs up credentials as regional EV powerhouse

WITH rising petrol prices, growing concerns about climate change, and the pressing need to follow environmental, social, and governance guidelines, more countries in South-east Asia are getting on the electric vehicle (EV) bandwagon.

Investments related to EVs that are worth billions of dollars have been pouring into various parts of South-east Asia over the last few months, as the region of more than 600 million consumers continues its big push to become a thriving EV hub.

The governments and private sectors in economies across Asean are also investing heavily, be it to manufacture cars for domestic sales and exports, or producing batteries and other parts that are in demand to assemble EVs elsewhere around the world.