Mr. Romulo V. Manlapig, Assistant Secretary and CARS Program Director of Board of Investments (in blue); Mr. Richard Albert I. Osmond, Chair of Sectoral Committee on Economic Development (in white, left side of the table); and Mr. Vicente T. Mills, President of Federation Automotive Industries of the Philippines (in white, right side of the table) listen to DTI 4-A Regional Director Marilou Q. Toledo as she gives her welcome remarks during the 1st Regional “Kapihan” for Automotive Industry on 28 September in Cabuyao City, Laguna.

The Department of Trade and Industry CALABARZON gathered lead automotive industry players for the 1st Regional “Kapihan” for Automotive Industry on 28 September, 2017 in Cabuyao City, Laguna.

Participating companies were the Federation of Automotive Industries of the Philippines (FAIP), Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI), Philippine Parts Maker Association (PPMA), Motorcycle Parts Producers and Exporters Association (MCPPEA), Phil. Ecozones Association (PHILEA), Laguna Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), some government agencies such as the Board of Investments (BOI), UP National Center for Transportation Studies, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), National Economic and Development Authority CALABARZON, Deptartment of Public Works and Highways CALABARZON, Department of Science and Technology CALABARZON, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency – Nomura Research Institute (JICA-NRI).

While the Philippines moved up to become the second fastest growing automotive market in the Southeast Asia at the start of 2017, its market is smaller compared with other ASEAN countries.

Furthermore, its manufacturing capabilities are mostly oriented towards the domestic market rather than regional chains.

Ms. Jasmin Nagera, Vice President of the Government and Industry Affairs of Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation, presented about the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program and its benefits to the other players in the automotive sector. The program is intended to enable the industry to seize market opportunities opened by the ASEAN Economic Community and deepen its participation in the regional supply chain.

“We, in DTI, really want to uplift the capacity and competitiveness of our MSMEs. We want them to be part of the value chain of the industry. Hence, we are asking for the participation and commitment of the industry players, specifically the private sector, and government agencies to make it happen. The 7M’s (mindset, mastery, mentoring, market, machine, money, and business model) of DTI Secretary Mon Lopez would be a good strategy to promote productivity and profitability,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.

Toledo hopes that the ‘Kapihan’ will be the beginning of a collaboration between the government and private sector to integrate and push CALABARZON’s automotive industry towards an inclusive and prosperous Philippines.