11th Electronic Vehicle Summit to be held on Oct. 19 to 21 | Business and Politics - video Dailymotion

The Manila Times

11th Electronic Vehicle Summit to be held on Oct. 19 to 21 | Business and Politics  Rommel Juan, chairman of the Electronic Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) talks about the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EV) in the Philippines. He said that the biggest EV summit yet will be held from October 19 to 21 in SMX Convention, Pasay City.  Companies such as Nissan, Hyundai, Mitsubushi, Kia, Autokid will be showcasing their EVs during the three-day event. Charging station companies will also be at the said gathering. The event aims to answer all questions one has about electric vehicles.   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes

Transcript

00:00 Our discussion tonight can touch on many things, because our guest, as they say, wears many hats.

00:05 He is Ramel Juan, whom we invited as chairman of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, or EVAP.

00:11 The onset of climate change, rising fuel prices, and the government policies to promote green mobility

00:16 make electric and hybrid vehicles an interesting topic.

00:19 My plan tonight is to devote much of our attention on that.

00:22 Besides electric vehicles, Mr. Juan also is CEO of the Philippine Utility Vehicle Incorporated,

00:27 and he is a senior executive of a number of local auto manufacturing ventures owned by his family.

00:33 He also struck out on his own, investing in the food industry and growing that business through franchising.

00:39 This is where our paths crossed years ago, when I met Mr. Juan as the founder and owner of Binala Fiesta Foods Incorporated.

00:46 Later on, he also founded Creative Valley Learner Center Incorporated.

00:50 Given all that, our discussion will likely also cover the outlook for the automobile industry,

00:54 opportunities in franchising, even leadership and entrepreneurship.

00:58 Hopefully, as I said earlier, we can cover those, but given the surge of interest in reducing emissions

01:04 and creating new opportunities in environmentally friendly industries,

01:08 we will begin with what role can the Philippines play in the development of electric vehicles,

01:12 and what does that mean to the domestic economy?

01:15 Mr. Ramel Juan, good to see you after so many years, and welcome to Business and Politics.

01:21 Thank you, thank you, Clink, for inviting me. It's been a long time. We've known each other for so long.

01:27 I feel that we can devote the entire episode on just catching up,

01:30 but I think what people are interested in hearing from us, or from this discussion, is the work that you're doing in EVAP.

01:38 There's a lot of interest now from the government. There's a lot of electric or hybrid cars on Philippine roads,

01:45 but how do you see the market from your organization's perspective?

01:49 Are you optimistic? And then, what does the future look like to you?

01:53 We're very, very optimistic. You know, Clink, I'm sure you know, we started our advocacy in 2007.

02:04 I remember, yeah.

02:05 So, 2007, so how many years? Almost.

02:10 You'll date us.

02:12 Okay, enough, enough. Anyway, it's…

02:14 But I remember, you said you had some early model, but your problems back then, if I recall, was getting a license plate from LTO because they didn't have a definition for an electric vehicle.

02:26 The problem before was how to get a license plate for an electric vehicle.

02:30 We were producing electric jeepneys, and LTO was saying, "You should have emissions tests."

02:37 "Electric doesn't have emissions." So anyway, we overcame that and everything. We formed the Electric Vehicle Association in 2009.

02:45 And you know, at that time, we were really shouting in the darkness.

02:50 And people had no idea about electric vehicles at that time.

02:56 Tesla was very, very new.

02:58 Sure.

02:59 And you know, because I kept sending press releases to you, almost every week.

03:06 Yeah.

03:07 And of course, you helped me out.

03:09 And I remember our very first exhibit, our very first summit of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines.

03:17 We had it in the basketball court of Meralco.

03:21 Wow.

03:22 So it was free.

03:23 Really humble beginnings.

03:24 You know, if they ever don't have a game, we'll be there.

03:29 Wow.

03:30 When we were showing.

03:31 So it has grown. It has grown.

03:34 And we're very, very optimistic.

03:37 As early as last year, I would still hear people saying, "Ah, maybe the Philippines will be here for another five years."

03:43 Yeah.

03:44 "Before electric vehicles are really accepted."

03:46 Yeah.

03:47 But this year, just this year, the story's totally changed.

03:51 Wow.

03:52 What you hear people saying now in the industry is, "Electric vehicles are here."

03:57 Okay.

03:58 And they are here.

03:59 Okay.

04:00 With BYD, with Hyundai, with Nissan, with all these brands, Kia, even Jaguar.

04:11 Yeah.

04:12 They all have electric vehicle models.

04:13 Audi.

04:14 Audi has electric vehicle.

04:15 Lotus has an electric vehicle model already.

04:18 It's already there.

04:21 And actually, it's nice to know when I talk to these members who are distributors of all these brands who sell electric vehicles, they have backlogs already.

04:33 Wow.

04:34 So people are all, there are people calling me, "Romel, help me. I want to order a home."

04:39 "Can you help me?"

04:40 "Of course, of course."

04:41 "I'll introduce you."

04:42 Because sometimes, you just need to know where the dealership is stocked.

04:45 Sure.

04:46 Things like that.

04:47 But as early as 2017, Nissan brought us to Nissan Futures event in Singapore.

04:59 And there was a study by Frost and Sullivan.

05:02 Okay.

05:03 They did a survey among Filipinos.

05:05 And among the ASEAN countries that they surveyed, the highest willingness to adopt is in the Philippines.

05:13 Really?

05:14 So, it means a lot of people really want to go green, to go electric.

05:21 But at the time, it wasn't available.

05:24 But now, with the efforts of the association, and of course the government also because of the EVITA law,

05:32 now, it's not just the car companies that are actively promoting, it's the charging stations as well.

05:42 Right.

05:43 There are a lot of charging station players who have set up shop in the Philippines now.

05:49 So, questions like, "How is that? I live in a condominium. How am I going to charge?"

05:54 There's a solution for that.

05:56 Interesting.

05:57 "How is my house? Can I install a charging station?"

06:01 There's a solution for that.

06:03 "I'm going to travel to Baguio or something, or Bicol, or Tuguegarao."

06:08 With the range.

06:09 Yeah, with the range. "How is the range?" "There's a solution for that."

06:13 So, a lot of things have happened.

06:16 And it's not just in the Philippines, it's really worldwide.

06:18 Right.

06:19 And actually, what I'm saying is, I'm not nervous anymore.

06:24 Because it's only a matter of time.

06:27 People, once you've driven an electric vehicle, you will not go back.

06:33 Yeah.

06:34 Especially in the Philippines.

06:35 I drive a hybrid.

06:37 So, you're on your way.

06:39 Yeah, I want to go full electric.

06:41 Yeah.

06:42 When we started EVAP, our tagline was "Plug-in and drive."

06:47 Right.

06:48 So, with EVAP, what we're really promoting are the plug-ins.

06:51 Right.

06:52 Because we believe that for you to have the option to go with the cleaner energy, plug-ins are the way.

07:02 Because you have options.

07:04 If you want to install a solar panel in your house, you're off the grid.

07:08 Right.

07:09 Because there's always an argument that it's also from the bunker fuel.

07:15 Because you'll also get hurt.

07:16 So, you're shifting.

07:17 But you have a choice.

07:20 You have a choice.

07:21 You want to install a wind turbine, you want to install a solar panel in your house, you're already clean.

07:27 So, those are the things now.

07:28 And a lot more things are happening right now.

07:31 It's very exciting. And you were saying earlier before the program when we were trying to catch up,

07:35 that you've been traveling around the region.

07:38 And I just came back also from the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Jakarta.

07:43 They're talking precisely what we're talking about now, EVs, but more importantly, collaboration.

07:48 And you're in the thick of that.

07:50 Can you talk about what EVAP is doing, maybe trying to organize Southeast Asia?

07:56 In 2017, we had our EV Summit at the SMX.

08:02 And then we made it the first ever ASEAN Electric Vehicle Summit.

08:08 Okay.

08:09 And we invited other countries.

08:11 We invited Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia.

08:15 A lot of people came.

08:17 And at about the same time, Thailand put up their own association, the EVAP, Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand.

08:25 So, we kind of pushed Malaysia to organize.

08:30 So, there's EVAM now. Singapore has EVAS now.

08:34 And then with all these associations already in place, we formed a federation.

08:40 So, the federation is called AFIVA.

08:42 This is ASEAN.

08:43 ASEAN Federation of Electric Vehicle Associations.

08:47 So, we have a lot of meetings every month.

08:50 There's a meeting.

08:51 Of course, our president is very active there right now.

08:54 Because I'm the chairman now.

08:55 Our president in EVAP is Edmond Araga.

08:57 Okay.

08:58 And they have meetings with the other presidents.

09:01 Sometimes I chime in also.

09:03 And what they do is best practices.

09:05 They compare best practices.

09:08 And of course, we support each other in each other's events.

09:11 So, just last week, we were in Bangkok for the IEV Tech.

09:16 That's the electric vehicle show in Thailand where we joined the EVAP president there.

09:23 We've been going around.

09:25 We've been campaigning.

09:27 We went to Vietnam two weeks ago.

09:30 And we met with the VinFast group.

09:32 We're trying to urge them to come up with an association also.

09:36 But it's not that simple in Vietnam.

09:38 In Vietnam, it's state-owned.

09:40 It's state-owned.

09:41 So, what they need, I think the government requires them to have like 100 members.

09:46 Things like that.

09:47 So, it's a bit complicated.

09:48 Actually, tomorrow, I'll be leaving for Laos.

09:51 So, we'll be in Laos.

09:53 And then we'll talk to some EV players there also.

09:57 And all of this is in preparation for our big event, our biggest annual event in EVAP, which is the EV Summit.

10:07 It's going to be our 11th EV Summit this coming October 19 to 21.

10:13 It's going to be the biggest three halls in SMX.

10:16 Before, we only borrowed a gym in Merano.

10:20 So, now, we have three halls in SMX.

10:23 And it's almost full.

10:25 All the major EV players will be there.

10:29 It's co-presented by Nissan.

10:34 And also, a lot of Hyundai will be there.

10:38 Mitsubishi will be there.

10:39 The big boys are there.

10:41 BYD and Kia will be there.

10:47 Photon, of course.

10:49 AutoKid.

10:50 A lot of EV players are new.

10:52 And they'll be showcasing their newest products.

10:56 And then, there will be a conference.

10:58 In the conferences, there are learning opportunities.

11:03 Sharing.

11:04 There will be talks.

11:06 So, it's going to be very, very exciting.

11:09 And also, there are a lot of charging stations.

11:11 Solarius is there.

11:13 Pessin is there.

11:15 Wallbox.

11:16 A lot of charging stations.

11:18 So, all the answers to your questions about electric vehicles will be at that show.

11:25 In the ASEAN Summit that I attended, there was a lot of talk about complementarity among ASEAN.

11:32 That maybe all of the difficulties experienced in the past.

11:36 Because they were saying that trade with ASEAN and China grew three or fourfold.

11:42 It also grew with the US.

11:44 But among the ASEAN members, it's been stagnant.

11:48 But the EV opportunity may be the time to realize this collaboration complementarity.

11:58 Do you see it?

11:59 I think that's what you are working to.

12:01 Is that the vision?

12:03 And where are we at now in making that reality?

12:07 Well, definitely, that's what we're trying to do.

12:10 We're trying to work closely with our ASEAN brothers.

12:14 And somehow, how we can work together and not compete.

12:18 Because what's happening to us is that we're always competing.

12:22 It can't all be done fast.

12:24 Yes, it can't.

12:26 There's a good...

12:30 Something that the President of Indonesia started, an initiative.

12:35 And he declared that he wants to make the ASEAN the EV hub.

12:42 An EV hub.

12:43 Which is possible.

12:44 For the world.

12:45 For the world.

12:46 Why?

12:47 Because we have all the nickel.

12:49 We have the raw materials for batteries.

12:53 Number one is Indonesia.

12:55 They have the biggest...

12:57 Second, Philippines.

12:58 Second is the Philippines.

12:59 But what Indonesia did now is a surprise move.

13:06 They stopped exporting their nickel.

13:09 So they told the investors, "If you want our nickel, you produce it."

13:14 "You put value added in our country."

13:16 Which is a great idea.

13:19 Something that the Philippines might want to take a look at.

13:23 Maybe not fully, but maybe partially.

13:27 But we really need to have local battery manufacturing in our country.

13:35 If we want to have a role in electric vehicle manufacturing.

13:39 Another opportunity for the Philippines is if we can produce...

13:44 Even just for public transport.

13:47 One niche that we have is, of course, if we incorporate it with the PUV modernization.

13:54 Because there's a huge demand for the PUV modernization.

13:59 They're saying about 300,000 new modern PUVs are needed to replace our ailing fleet of jeepneys.

14:06 Think about it.

14:07 If even just a certain percent of this will be electric.

14:13 And then locally produced.

14:15 The number of jobs that it will create.

14:18 I'm actually a member of ABMAP, the Autobody Manufacturer Association of the Philippines.

14:25 And together we employ about 3,000 people.

14:30 So just imagine the number of jobs that it creates.

14:34 And the potential of that.

14:36 And that segment of...

14:39 That truck segment, which is the 6-7 meter chassis of a truck.

14:46 That's what's used in a jeepney.

14:49 Think about it.

14:50 If we can give incentives to that platform.

14:54 The same way that Thailand gave incentives to their pickup.

14:58 Thailand gave incentives to their pickup.

15:01 So when you go to Thailand, there are a lot of pickups.

15:04 And that's what became Detroit of Asia.

15:06 I think DTI has this idea.

15:16 As a Director Manlapig of DTI, BOI.

15:18 His idea is why don't we make these special purpose vehicles as our incentives.

15:33 Because the chassis can be a jeepney, ambulance, fire truck.

15:40 There are a lot of things that can be done.

15:42 What if it's incentivized in this country, we produce all of that and we export.

15:48 Then maybe we can be competitive again in the Philippines for our automotive industry.

15:55 But going back.

15:57 Maybe it's a bit far.

15:59 Going back to what we can do for the EV industry.

16:08 Well, there are a lot.

16:10 IONIX is our member in EVAP.

16:14 They can make their own charging stations.

16:17 So there are a lot.

16:18 We're good at electronics.

16:22 So there are a lot of industries that can be developed with the EV industry.

16:29 [Music]

11th Electronic Vehicle Summit to be held on Oct. 19 to 21 | Business and Politics

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