New order on vehicle manufacturing perks released next month

MANILA, Philippines — The government is looking to release the joint administrative order (JAO) for its vehicle manufacturing incentives program in April, later than initially scheduled.

Board of Investments (BOI) executive director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa said that the JAO for the implementation of the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program is almost done.

“It will be issued around next month,” she said in a Viber message.

Earlier, the BOI said the JAO was expected to be completed by mid-March.

The JAO is being crafted by the BOI together with the Department of Finance and Department of Budget and Management.

“Once the JAO is signed, we’ll immediately open the application period,” Dichosa said.

Under the RACE, the government is looking to provide a total of P9 billion in fiscal support for the production of three models of four-wheeled internal combustion engine vehicles.

Each participating car manufacturer can get up to P3 billion under the program for tooling and equipment.

In addition, a participating firm may get fixed investment support, which will cover up to 40 percent of capital expenditure.

To qualify for government support, a participating firm will have to invest in vehicle manufacturing, produce 100,000 units of the enrolled vehicle model, launch the enrolled model to the market within two years as well as comply with other conditions to be imposed at the time of registration.

There will be regular audits to ensure that the conditions are complied with.

The RACE program will serve as the successor of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program, which provided incentives to support the local manufacture of vehicles.

Firms that took part in the CARS program were Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. for the Vios and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. for the Mirage.

Earlier, Dichosa said the CARS participants have signified their intention to take part in the RACE.