(Reuters) – Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to develop their first joint vehicle production and sales strategy within the Southeast Asian bloc to counter China’s growing presence in the electric vehicle market, a newspaper reported on Monday.
The goal is to develop an interim joint strategy until around 2035, when economic ministers from Japan and ASEAN members meet as early as September next year, Nikkei reported, without citing any source.
The joint strategy is expected to entail collaboration on workforce training, decarbonization of production, procurement of mineral resources and investment in next-generation areas such as biofuels, Nikkei reported.
Japan intends to use the 140 billion yen ($899.51 million) its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has budgeted for aid to the Global South on workforce training, the report said.
Last week Japan Honda (NYSE:) Motor has pledged to double its investments in electrification and software to about $65 billion by fiscal 2030 as it faces growing competition from a host of Chinese automakers including BYD (SZ:).
($1 = 155.6400 yen)