THE Board of Investments (BoI) said it is proposing P9 billion worth of fiscal support for its Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program, which is designed to address continued demand for gasoline-powered vehicles.
“(RACE is) supposed to be a bridge of the CARS (Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy) and the EVIS (Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy),” BoI Executive Director Ma. Corazon H. Dichosa told reporters last week.
The Department of Trade and Industry recently disclosed plans to revive the RACE program in response to an industry clamor to continue supporting domestic production of internal combustion engine (ICE) models.
The RACE program had originally sought to provide fiscal support for the domestic production of four-wheeled ICE vehicles. It was meant to be the successor to the CARS program, which incentivized the domestic production of at least 200,000 mass-market sedans per manufacturer between 2018 to 2024.
Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go has said that the proposed EVIS is being reviewed by the Office of the Executive Secretary.
“It’s hurdled the FIRB (Fiscal Incentives Review Board) and is now with the OES (Office of the Executive Secretary),” he told reporters last week.
While the government is planning to support the production of both gasoline-powered and electric cars, Mr. Go cited the need to increase funding support for newer technologies like EVs.
“I think there should be a premium for new technology,” he said. “If you read the SIPP (Strategic Investment Priority Plan), the highest tier are the new-frontier, high-innovation, high-science types of investment.”
The BoI said it is in talks with two domestic companies with foreign partners to avail of possible EVIS slots, Ms. Dichosa said.
The DTI is proposing a P60-billion fiscal package for EVIS, with plans to provide fiscal support of P15 billion per participant.
In April, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it is interested in the EVIS program, signaling plans to build a hybrid electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Santa Rosa, Laguna. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
