By Alexander Villafania
PASAY CITY, METRO MANILA – Economic agencies between the Philippines and Taiwan have signed a letter of intent to establish electric vehicles (EV) development as part of the National Green Transport System project.
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) signed the letter of intent with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) at the recently held Philippine-Taiwan Joint Economic Conference.
The partnership aims to assist the Philippines in establishing its own electric vehicle manufacturing industry.
Senator Edgardo Angara, chair of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology, and Engineering (COMSTE) said that the development partnership was timely as Taiwan is at the forefront of EV development. Its government has set $309 million in investments for its own EV program.
"This cooperation is a step in the right direction. Taiwan is an emerging global EV leader. They have a great model on which we can base our own policy and business framework for the development of a Green Transport System," Angara said.
The National Green Transport project is being implemented by Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP). It envisions the use of electricity and other renewable energy source to power up transportation systems.
Under this program, electric vehicles will be charged through refueling stations that are powered by electricity from renewable energy power plants. Such energy sources are geothermal, solar, wind, and biofuels.
Likewise, the COMSTE is co-developing EV standards with the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP).
There are already government-led programs on electric vehicles development. The DOST has put up experimental vehicle testing facility at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Several public transport vechiles, especially the e-jeepney, have also been deployed in Metro Manila and other cities in an effort to establish a network of public transport systems that use less fuel and do not pollute the air.
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