President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has announced Indonesia’s serious commitment to developing the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, stating that the country aims to start producing electric cars by next year.
During his speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Jokowi invited investors from APEC member countries to invest in Indonesia, particularly in the downstream sector of the industry.
Highlighting Indonesia’s vast reserves of nickel and other critical minerals, Jokowi outlined plans to use these resources for electric vehicle production. He emphasized that the primary target of mineral downstreaming in Indonesia is to establish an integrated EV ecosystem.
“There are several priority sectors that we offer. First, industrial downstreaming. As the owner of the world’s largest nickel reserves and various other critical minerals, Indonesia is in the process of building an integrated EV ecosystem,” explained Jokowi.
The President set an ambitious target for Indonesia to commence electric car production by next year, 2024, with a larger goal of manufacturing 600,000 electric vehicles by 2030.
“Our target is to produce 600,000 electric cars in 2030, which we will start next year,” Jokowi stated.
Earlier, the Minister of Investment and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Bahlil Lahadalia, had also mentioned Indonesia’s intention to become the first country in Southeast Asia to produce electric vehicles within a comprehensive ecosystem starting next year. This means both electric vehicle and battery production would occur simultaneously by 2024.
This development is expected to materialize once the electric battery plant in Karawang is completed in 2024. Bahlil received confirmation during a meeting between the South Korean government and President Jokowi in May.
“He stated that the 10 GW electric battery plant, a collaboration between LG and Hyundai, would start production next year, making Indonesia the first country to produce both electric vehicles and batteries simultaneously,” revealed Bahlil on November 15, 2023.
