The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Tokyo recently discussed for potential cooperation in the critical minerals sector between Indonesia and Japan.
Muhammad Al Aula, Coordinator of Information and Socio-Cultural Functions at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo, said that the discussion on critical mineral cooperation included opportunities for developing an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and other strategic issues.
He said that Japan actually has an interest in developing the EV ecosystem in various countries, including Indonesia, eventhough their focus is in hybrid technology.
“What has been said earlier is true that they (Japan) also focus a lot on hybrid issues. But that does not close the opportunity for them to be involved in the development of electric ecosystems everywhere, including in Indonesia,” Al Aula said on Saturday, January 25, 2025.
He cited that Japan’s involvement in the development of the EV ecosystem in Indonesia is still under discussion. However, the issue of critical minerals was one of the main topics in the meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
“Earlier I was reminded that there was a discussion about the critical minerals aspect. Which was also a topic of discussion between the President and the Prime Minister. Well, if he was talking about a truly strategic aspect, then currently it is being studied further by teams from both Indonesia and Japan,” Al Aula said.
President Director of State mining holding company MIND ID, Hendi Prio Santoso, said that Indonesia will play a fairly strategic role in the global arena in relation with the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem.
Currently, Indonesia has abundant nickel reserves and other supporting mineral resources as raw materials for making electric vehicle batteries.
“Indonesia now controls almost 75 percent of the global supply chain for nickel. So we are a very dominant player. So the last nickel is widely used as a raw material for electricity, nickel batteries,” Hendi said.