MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. welcomed on Monday the offer of VinGroup Company of Vietnam in investing in the Philippines particularly in electric vehicle (EV) battery production, which he said is timely because the country is currently modernizing its public transportation

“I am very happy to note your interest in expanding your operations to the Philippines and you’ve just began organizing offices there. And I think there is much that you could do,” President Marcos said during a meeting with Vingroup’s top executives in Hanoi.

“The Vingroup is well-known in the Philippines because we have… we are very much aligned of what we would like to do in the future in terms of electrical vehicle battery production,” the President pointed out.

Vingroup’s Philippine venture is timely, the President said, because the Philippines is presently in the middle of a modernization program for its public utility vehicles (PUV) particularly jeepneys and tricycles, the President said.

“We are in the middle of our modernization program essentially meaning we are going to replace all our conveyances, buses and we have (a) particular type of transport …jeepneys,” Marcos said.

He told Vingroup executives led by Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice chairman and CEO of the company, that right now, the specification to those vehicles is being finalized and the government is consolidating the operators and drivers into cooperatives.

And with regard to electric vehicles and its components, Marcos said the Philippine government is proposing to leave that market open and not just focus on one supplier in order to complete the modernization as quickly as possible.

The Philippines could support battery production for EVs because it has all the elements that are presently necessary for electric battery production, saying the country has good reserves of nickel, cobalt, and copper.

Although the Philippines is currently exporting minerals, it would like to increase the value in the Philippines by doing the processing in the country, Marcos said.

Marcos also touted the Philippines’ relatively young, skilled and educated workforce, the country’s major asset.

According to the President, providing scholarships, upskilling and reskilling are something that are very important for the country to succeed.

“And so… to adjust in the different ways of doing business and that is one of the greatest assets actually that we have in the Philippines, this workforce. The key to take the full advantage of that workforce is for the skills… to get them [workers] to acquire the skills that are necessary for cyber security, digital banking, digital transfers of money and of course AI,” he said.

Vingroup is a multi-sector corporation that focuses on technology and industry, trade and services and social enterprise.

It continues to pioneer and lead consumer trends in each of its businesses and has created a respected, well-recognized Vietnamese brand and is proud to be one of the nation’s leading private enterprises. (PND)