Too little, too late? Manila’s billion-dollar bid to ignite its sputtering EV industry

[MANILA] After decades of falling behind in automotive assembly, the Philippines is mounting an aggressive bid to break into South-east Asia’s electric vehicle manufacturing arena with an incentive plan designed to de-risk high upfront capital expenditure for global automakers.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed an executive order on Jul 29 for the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (Evis) – a 60-billion-peso (US$1 billion) fiscal package to incentivise EV makers to build new factories and hit higher production targets in the Philippines.

The plan, it is hoped, will bolster the country’s standing against industrial juggernauts such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.