The well-known electric car company, Tesla, has reportedly agreed to invest IDR 75 trillion in Indonesia. Recently, the President of Indonesia, Jokowi, wants Tesla to build an electric car factory in Indonesia, not just a battery factory.
Jokowi, when interviewed by Bloomberg, said, “What we all want is electric cars, not battery. For Tesla, we want them to build electric cars in Indonesia”.
Jokowi explained that he wanted to build a large electric car ecosystem in Indonesia. In addition to Tesla, he revealed that he had the same expectations from other major automotive manufacturers such as Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, and Suzuki.
“Still in discussion,” Jokowi said explaining what was blocking the agreement with Tesla.
“Everything takes time. I don’t want to be quick without results. This requires intense communication and the results will be seen,” he said again.
Previously, Jokowi had met Tesla boss, Elon Musk, in mid-May at SpaceX’s headquarters in Texas, United States. The two discussed potential collaborations and Musk’s visit to Indonesia in November.
Indonesia, which is the largest producer of nickel, one of the raw materials for battery, in the world, not only wants to control the raw materials but also wants to become a home for electric vehicles.
So far, South Korean brands such as Hyundai and China, such as Wuling and DFSK, have committed to producing electric cars domestically. It’s just a matter of time for Japanese manufacturers to follow that path after claiming to produce hybrid cars first.
After that, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan conveyed the good news regarding this deal. According to him, the electric car manufacturer from the United States (US), Tesla, will invest in Indonesia. Currently, the government is discussing several agreements with Tesla.
It is known that Tesla is busy with his affairs, but still maintains good communication with the Indonesian government.
“We are still in constant communication with Tesla because Tesla is still busy with domestic affairs, and Twitter problems,” said Luhut. Monday (8/8/2022).
Luhut claimed that Tesla had signed a cooperation contract with one of the industries in the Morowali area. However, he did not specify the company in question.
“We have engaged (involved) around US$ 5 billion (equivalent to Rp. 74.31 trillion at an exchange rate of Rp. 14862.71/US$),” said Luhut.
Luhut emphasized that the Indonesian government had no significant obstacles in the negotiation process with Tesla. However, Luhut said, the internal problems faced by Elon Musk’s company are currently considered more important.
“As I said earlier, there is their domestic problem, I also don’t want to interfere. Our communication is still going on. He doesn’t have much choice, we’ll see,” he explained.
