The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) expressed its optimism that the Philippines’ shift to electric vehicles (EVs) will attract more foreign investments especially with the government’s incentives scheme for local manufacturers and buyers.

AmCham Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe said the incentives from the government will help the transition from traditional vehicles to EVs in the country.

“Anything we can do to get air-polluting cars off the street or air-polluting jeepneys off the streets is a plus. And those subsidies will help,” he said in an interview with reporters last Oct. 25.

During the 11th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit on Oct. 20, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) unveiled the Electric Vehicle Incentives Scheme (EVIS) to boost the e-vehicle industry in the Philippines.

DTI said that the scheme targets to produce four million locally manufactured EVs within the next decade, with a focus on two-wheelers, e-trikes, electric public utility vehicles (e-PUVs), and eBus.

Under the EVIS' e-PUV+ Program, the DTI plans to provide fiscal incentives for EV battery manufacturers by covering 50 percent of capital expenditure, including land; and buyers by offering discounts worth P500,000 per unit for e-PUVs, P10,000 per unit for e-bikes, and P20,000 per unit for three-wheelers.

Hinchliffe emphasized that the country needs to boost its EV market now that the government is ready to welcome more investments in the sector with the given incentives.

“It's always a challenge for any kind of investment, of foreign investments. You gotta have the right investment climate. You gotta have the right incentives. We gave them the incentives. Now we gotta to give them the market. Nobody's going into the market if they won't have somebody buying their products. So, the big thing is to push the market,” Hinchliffe said.

“You see a lot of EV charging stations and not enough EV vehicles. So we really need to push. We really need to push now to get more. And I love to see the manufacturing of other e-vehicles here in the Philippines,” he added.

Aside from EVs, Hinchliffe said that AmCham is also looking forward to boosting the country’s market for hybrid vehicles like in other nations like Sri Lanka, where “the hybrid and the EV are very successful.”

With the passage of the EV bill, which was put into law – known as the Republic Act (RA) 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act – in April last year, Hinchliffe urged more foreign investors and automotive companies to “take advantage of it.”