Indonesia's investment minister is confident that Tesla will be injecting money into the country
CY Foong · Dec 5, 2022 05:15 PM
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As the global electric vehicle (EV) market begins to rise, the industry is looking to invest more in countries that produce the resources needed to build battery components and other materials. Indonesia is one of those nations and it is trying to attract foreign investors especially those from the EV industry.
One company that stands out from the rest is Tesla and though there has been nothing official from the Elon Musk-helmed company, the country’s minister has been hinting that the company is very likely to bring some investment into the country.
Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs of Indonesia, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan was giving a talk at the recent Wealth Wisdom Mindfully Recover event. In a translated quote, he said “I told Tesla, if you build a plant here, you will definitely go up, nothing will go wrong,”
Luhut (left) offering Kopiko sweets to Elon
Indeed, Luhut had made several discussions with Elon Musk, meeting with the overlord CEO of Twitter in April 2022 at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas as well as inviting him to the G20 Summit which was held in Bali.
Luhut can’t reveal much else in what form of investment or what was being discussed between him and Elon as everything is under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or is confidential. Yet, he is “absolutely sure that (Tesla) would want to come to Indonesia”.
Besides Tesla, Luhut also mentioned that Ford and Volkswagen are also looking to invest in Indonesia. The two giants are focusing more on EVs and Indonesia is rich in materials such as cobalt and manganese which are important materials found in batteries.
As exports of such minerals are now banned, the government is using the opportunity to promote the growth of the local battery manufacturing industry.
He is optimistic that these companies would want to invest in Indonesia mainly because the country has an advantage in numbers. “Our market (in ASEAN) is the biggest. We have a middle-class population of 60 million out of a total of 280 million. So, just in market size, we are much bigger,” Luhut said at the event.
The investing minister also added that Indonesia has an advantage in its natural resources. “(Indonesia) has the materials and it’s cheaper to produce here. It costs 5 cents per kilowatt per hour for electricity while transportation per raw materials is USD 2. In China, the transport cost is between USD 15-20 while electricity cost is 10-12 cents,”
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
