The Philippines has a huge potential for the e-mobility industry. Thus, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., is pushing for government incentives to attract more investors, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

“We’re always running into the same problem. It’s the scaling, production design, then the investment. How do we (attract investments)? … ‘Yun ang (That’s the) hardest part of this,” the President said.

“We need investors to come in. Of course, we’ll provide incentives from the government. That’s what we need to do. We need incentives for investors to come in. Hopefully local. But we’ll take anybody who’s interested,” the President added.

This was discussed during a sectoral meeting at the Malacanan Palace with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and concerned agencies. The meeting discussed ways to boost the Philippine e-mobility industry through science, technology, and innovation.

In response to the President, DOST Secretary Renato Solidum, Jr., said that potential investors, including manufacturers and fabricators of e-mobility devices, are just waiting for a proper government policy.

Solidum also added that e-trikes and e-jeepneys have a huge potential and could be mass-produced locally, while local agri-machinery manufacturers could help speed up the e-trike production, adding that the DOST has also developed a hybrid electric train and an electric boat.

DOST has also been pursuing initiatives in the EV value chain and wants to prioritize local designs and expertise. It added that the local e-mobility industry could also generate thousands of job opportunities in maintenance, aftersales, and other services.

So far, there are 25,196 registered EVs and 705 EV charging stations (EVCS) in the country, with 92 accredited EVCS providers. The EVCS industry alone has already generated more than 10,000 new jobs and almost PHP 2 billion in investments.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is creating a strategic roadmap under the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) to formulate policies and come up with possible incentives to support electric vehicles (EVs).