Perks sought for auto industry

The head of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc. has urged the government to extend the much needed incentives meant to revitalize the local automotive industry.

According to JCCIPI president Takashi Ishigami, these incentives are needed to keep the sector more competitive especially by 2015, when the economies of the 10- member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would be integrated. The integration will mean freer flow of goods, services and workforce across the Asean countries.

“There is a very good opportunity to expand the car business here. But the car industry in the Philippines is very small and I worry about that because we have the consolidation (of Asean economies) by 2015,” Ishigami said.

“The government  should provide tax exemptions. As far as I know, the Department of Trade and Industry is planning to give incentives to the car industry as [Secretary Gregory L.] Domingo told us,” he said.

Last month, Domingo assured local car assemblers that the government had prepared a revised set of fiscal, volume-based incentives to revive the vehicle assembly industry and boost investments in the sector.

These provisions are expected to be contained in an industry roadmap that has yet to pass the scrutiny of the Cabinet. Different sets of incentives were prepared for companies that will export assembled vehicles and for those that would export auto parts.

These incentives are expected to help put the Philippines in the auto manufacturing map of the Asean, Domingo had said.

The Philippines, at present, continued to lag behind its neighbors in the Asean in terms of both sales and production of motor vehicles as of end-July.