ASEAN auto makers keen to use clean fuels

Auto manufacturers from ASEAN member countries are extremely interested in the use of bio-fuel as an alternative to petrol in a bid to reduce environmental pollution.
Auto manufacturers from ASEAN member countries are extremely interestedin the use of bio-fuel as an alternative to petrol in a bid to reduceenvironmental pollution.

The issue was discussed at the 12 th ASEAN Automobile Industry Forum which opened in Hanoi on January 24.

Beingthe event’s host, Vietnam said it encouraged the manufacture ofenvironmentally-friendly vehicles that use clean fuel, said DeputyMinister of Trade and Industry Le Duong Quang.

The countryexpected that by 2020 the use of clean fuel in vehicles would accountfor 5 percent of conventional energy, said Quang.

He noted thatthe domestic auto industry would prioritise working with its partners inthe ASEAN bloc to boost links and the associations role.

Arepresentative from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)of Japan , whose auto industry is one of the most developed in theworld, said the ASEAN market has a lot of potential for developing itsauto industry.

Japanese auto makers have invested in ASEANcountries for a long time and their investment has proved to beeffective and able to raise the competitiveness of the ASEAN-Japan autoindustry to rival big car producers like China , India or theRepublic of Korea , said Shigeaki Tanaki, Head of the METI’s AutoManufacturing Department.

At the two-day forum, the participantstouched upon the deployment of auto industry-related commitments in theASEAN Free Trade Agreement, the streamline of customs procedures forauto products and standardising and harmonising the auto industry in thebloc./.

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