BOI, local industry to update auto development program

The Board of Investments (BOI) and domestic auto industry will be crafting a new Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP) “that is attuned to the times” by yearend, the Trade department said.

According to Trade Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez, an updated roadmap for the country’s auto sector is necessary for the industry to remain competitive amid a zero-tariff regime beginning next year under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).

This is also needed in light of the other bilateral, regional and multilateral trade pacts entered by the Philippines, Hernandez, who is also the BOI managing head, added.

To come up with the new MVDP, the Trade official said the BOI will soon form a technical working group (TWG) composed of people from the agency and appointed representatives of the local auto players.

When the TWG wraps up, the BOI will then convene a final whole day “CEO workshop,” where the inputs will be presented and fine-tuned and remaining issues among the industry players will be ironed out, Hernandez said.

Hernandez said inputs from the study conducted by Deloitte would also be considered in drawing the updated MVDP.

He said representatives of Deloitte have already conducted a briefing with the BOI, but they have only presented a summary of the study. The agency expects a copy of the full study by the end of this month.

Once the BOI is provided the full Deloitte study, the agency’s technical people will review it for 15 days and will make recommendations before forming the TWG, Hernandez said. –Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Reporter, Manila Times