Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) of Indonesia, emphasized that the production of electric vehicle batteries must be centered in Indonesia. This is because Indonesia has the materials to produce it.
The material for producing the electric vehicle battery is nickel and Indonesia has that material. It is natural for Erick Thohir to expect this.
“Are we willing to export all of our nickel abroad? Other people (countries) make electric vehicle batteries, the batteries have been made and then shipped to Indonesia and we will buy them again. That’s why we are changing and being smart. If we want to use our nickel, we must invest in the production of electric vehicle batteries in Indonesia,”. Said Erick Thohir, as quoted from Antara, Saturday (15/1/2022).
He did not want the previous case to repeat itself. Previously, Indonesia was the largest car market in Southeast Asia, but investment in production facilities was in Thailand.
He added, “(That’s) wrong? No, we have to introspect why we lost to Thailand. If Thailand doesn’t produce nickel now, the investment in electric cars is still in Thailand, something is wrong with us. Therefore, we have to force the production to be here. If you don’t want (investment) then we don’t have to give the nickel,”
What about technology and data?
Erick Thohir also discussed the realm of technology. He ensured that Telkom is now focused more on Business to Business or B2B, namely building digital infrastructure such as data centers, clouds, fiber optic networks, and so on.
Meanwhile, Telkomsel is more focused on business to consumer or B2C, namely building based on customers, becoming an aggregator for the younger generation of Indonesia.
Previously, he also emphasized that Indonesia is ready to become a major player in the electric car industry. The desire to make Indonesia a major producer of electric cars is in line with the government’s desire to promote sustainable economic development.
According to Erick, all parties must maintain national energy security, Indonesia currently imports 1.5 million barrels per day for fuel or the equivalent of 200 trillion per year. Electric cars are also a solution to reduce the movement of foreign exchange abroad.
