The organizing committee of the very first ASEAN Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit composed of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), Meralco, and the Board of Investments met with the ASEAN National Organizing Committee  to thresh out the final details of the landmark event slated on June 29 to 30 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

The Philippines will host the very first ASEAN Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit as a side event to the country’s hosting of the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit this year. It will be under the auspices of the main ASEAN National Organizing Committee so the same protocols and security measures will be implemented all throughout both events.

EVAP president Rommel Juan said that the summit will be attended by EVAP’s counterpart EV Associations in the ASEAN region. “With some B2B meetings to be arranged, we hope that joint ventures between foreign companies and our member companies will be forged. In the end, we not only bring in foreign investments but also benefit from the ensuing transfer of modern technology”.

Juan also explains that the summit will also showcase various EV and hybrid cars from CAMPI member companies alongside locally-assembled EVs from EVAP members. “Our past Philippine EV Summits were mostly geared towards the domestic market but this time, with the ASEAN Electric and Hybrid Vehicles EV Summit, we will go out to the region to showcase our EV industry. We will show the whole region that the Philippines is ready to join the world in promoting lower or even zero carbon emitting vehicles”.

EVAP vice president Edmund Araga said that EVAP officers have actively gone around the ASEAN region to invite their foreign counterparts to share their own country’s experiences with respect to electric and hybrid vehicles. “We invited them to make a country report during the summit to update us on the latest from their end and share their best practices and latest EV products with us. The Philippines is now set to take center stage in the regional and later worldwide promotion of electric and hybrid vehicles.”