Car firms back revised MVDP

MANILA, Philippines – Local vehicle and parts makers expressed their support for the revision of the Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP) under EO156. The Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council Inc. (PACCI) said.

In the first auto summit to be held today at the Intercontinental Hotel, industry players will meet with representatives from the Board of Investments to discuss the MVDP.

“The proposed revised EO156 should provide mechanisms that will help sustain vehicle manufacturing in the country and continue to ensure the benefits and gains it contributes to the automotive industry,” Hiroshi Ito, PACCI president and Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) president said.

PACCI is an industry association composed of Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP), Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Toyota.

The group, which represents about 90 percent of the domestic automotive production, said that the revision is necessary to ensure that the Philippine automotive manufacturing industry can sustain operations in the local market and compete within the ASEAN region when trade barriers start coming down in 2010.

According to the group, it is imperative to formulate a clear roadmap for the automotive industry to help achieve a viable and forward-looking domestic vehicle and parts manufacturing industry.

The group said that already, our ASEAN neighbors, notably Thailand, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have managed to establish strong footholds in the automotive manufacturing region over the last five years and the Philippines needs much to do to stay “in the game.”

The group said that the draft framework of the revision highlights the important role of parts’ makers, who are eager to produce more parts at globally competitive prices and quality to enable higher local content of domestically manufactured vehicles, thus creating greater scale of local production and spur exports globally.

“The MVDP is a dynamic program and needs to be revisited to stay attuned with the present environment,” Feliciano Torres, chairman of PACCI who is also chairman of MVPMAP said.

“We envision a new program that will contain appropriate industry adjustment measures to cushion the impact of the full implementation of AFTA and the various FTAs,” he added. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)