(Reuters) – Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to develop their first joint strategy on automobile production and sales 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 Japan's economic ministers and ASEAN members meet as early as next September, the Nikkei reported, without citing any source.
The joint strategy is expected to include cooperation in employee training, decarbonization of production, procurement of mineral resources and investment in next-generation areas such as biofuels, Nikkei said.
The report said that Japan intends to take advantage of the 140 billion yen ($899.51 million) included in the budget by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to assist the Global South, in order to train employees.
Last week in Japan Honda (NYSE:) Motor Company has pledged to double its investments in electrification and software to about $65 billion during fiscal 2030, as it faces increasing competition from a host of Chinese automakers, including BYD (SZ:).
($1 = 155.6400 yen)
