VinGroup Company of Vietnam has expressed interest to invest in electric vehicle (EV) battery production in the Philippines, a timely project as the country is currently modernizing its public transportation.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his meeting with Vingroup executives led by chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and vice chairman and chief executive officer Nguyen Viet Quang, welcomed the company’s interest in expanding its operations to the Philippines.
Vingroup is a multi-sector corporation that focuses on technology and industry, trade and services and social enterprise.
“The Vingroup is well-known in the Philippines because… we are very much aligned on what we would like to do in the future in terms of electrical vehicle battery production,” Marcos said.
He said the Philippines could support battery production for EVs because it has all the elements that are presently necessary for electric battery production with its good reserves of nickel, cobalt, and copper.
Marcos said the Philippines is also doing the processing of minerals that are not available or are of limited quantity in the country.
The President, meanwhile, said the government will leave open the market for electric vehicles and its components, preferring not just focus on one supplier at the moment, in order to complete the ongoing modernization of public utility vehicles (PUVs).
He said the PUV modernization program, starting with the jeepneys and buses, is ongoing and specification of the affected vehicles is currently being finalized while the operators and drivers are being consolidated into cooperatives.
The President, during his meeting with Vietnamese Prime MinisterPham Minh Ching yesterday, said the Philippines is hoping to increase the electric vehicle population in the country to 10 percent by 2040,
Marcos said this would result in a five percent savings in oil and electricity.
