Energy Secretary Lotilla Meets With Japanese Companies on Decarbonization Plans
The Philippine delegation composed of DOE, PH Embassy, and PTIC, together with Japanese companies/locators interested in RE.
The Philippine delegation composed of DOE, PH Embassy, and PTIC, together with Japanese Car/Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Companies
3 March 2023 – During his visit to Tokyo to attend the inaugural Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Ministerial Meeting, Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla engaged with Japanese companies at two roundtable meetings at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, regarded as a follow through on the efforts of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.’s State Visit last month to forge closer ties and stronger economic partnership with Japan to help accelerate the country’s economic development.
At both meetings arranged by the Post’s Trade and Investment Section (PTIS), the Secretary, together with Undersecretary and Senior Official on Energy (SOE) Leader Felix William B. Fuentebella, presented the Philippine energy sector, provided updates on the energy situation in the country particularly on the supply and consumption; power generation mix; future energy scenario; market development mechanisms, institutionalized market-driven policies, as well as, government legislation and policies including the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (RA 11285) and the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) or RA 11697, and responded to the issues/concerns raised by the respective Japanese companies.
In the first roundtable, Secretary Lotilla met with officials/representatives from economic zone locators namely, Brother Industries, Inc., Japan Aviation Electronics (JAE) Industry, Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., MinebeaMitsumi Inc., Panasonic Corp., Renova, Inc., and Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. to discuss their companies’ decarbonization plans and how the Philippine government can assist in their expansion and sustainable development goals. Secretary Lotilla noted in this meeting that some of the issues being faced by the private sector will not only require actions from the executive branch of the Government but also from the Legislators from the Philippines.
During the second roundtable, the Secretary met with officials/representatives from several car/ electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers namely, Assemblepoint Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Kawasaki Motors, Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., to discuss their current and future business plans in the Philippines, address their concerns and update them on the current developments in the EVIDA. Secretary Lotilla emphasized that the rolling-out of EVIDA will help in the transformation of the country by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and air pollution.
The Secretary expressed gratitude to the Japanese companies for the “continuing conversation/dialogue” in the government’s drive to provide affordable, adequate, secure, sustainable, and reasonably priced energy for all the stakeholders in the country. “Our government is always keen to work with the private sector, especially as the President has articulated that renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) are among the Administration’s priorities as part of our climate change mitigation actions,” Secretary Lotilla remarked.
“On our part, we welcome opportunities for the government and private sector to achieve our mutually beneficial goals. The Embassy stands ready to assist in facilitating these engagements,” Ambassador-designate Mylene J. Garcia-Albano added.
The Department of Energy (DOE) encourages companies to communicate their concerns through the DOE Investment Promotion Office (IPO) at doe_ipo@yahoo.com; telephone (63) (2) 8840-2255; mobile (63) 917-8608871.
