Fresh incentives await carmakers investing in PH

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is finalizing a new incentive program to attract car companies to bring in their manufacturing operations in the Philippines.

Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investments and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA) Secretary Frederick Go said in an interview Monday that the DTI would be rolling out the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program, a re-designed version of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.

Like the CARS program, Go said RACE would provide incentives to new car models that will be manufactured here.

It also aims to increase the domestic sourcing of locally assembled vehicles enrolled under the RACE program.

“We’re only giving incentives if you give jobs to the Philippines,” the presidential adviser said.

“(T)he Marcos administration is looking at investments in industry to help people, to help Filipinos get jobs,” he added.

In his past trips to Japan, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. talked to the world’s largest car manufacturers Toyota and Mitsubishi, luring them to manufacture car models such as the Tamaraw and the Xpander.

Toyota Motor Philippines has invested P5.5 billion to manufacture the Tamaraw model in its Santa Rosa, Laguna plant.

In 2023, DTI encouraged Mitsubishi to bring its Xpander production to the Philippines, and just last Feb. 6, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. president and chief executive officer Takao Kato made a courtesy call to Marcos and pledged to invest P7 billion in the country over the next five years.

Go said RACE could accept more participants than CARS, which only allotted three slots for participating car models but only two slots were availed of – Toyota’s Vios and Mitsubishi’s Mirage.

Meanwhile, unlike the CARS Program, RACE will be a department initiative and would not need an executive order for implementation since the new program has a budget allocation in the 2025 national budget.

The 2025 General Appropriations Act shows that P250 million is initially earmarked for the RACE program. (PNA)