Coordinating Minister Airlangga: Indonesia And Australia Can Cooperate To Become Global Suppliers Of Electric Vehicle Battery

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia and Australia could work together to become major global suppliers of batteries for electric vehicles (EV).

For this reason, Minister Airlangga witnessed the signing of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Western Australian State Government and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) which was signed in February 2023.

"The signing of this Action Plan is important to seize opportunities and bring together parties involved in the important mineral sector, including battery raw materials, with parties who support financing to realize more concrete cooperation", said Airlangga as in an official statement, quoted from Antara, Wednesday 5 July.

The signing of the Action Plan was carried out by the General Chair of the Indonesian KADIN, Arsjad Rasjid, and the Premier of Western Australia, Hon Roger Cook MLA.

This Action Plan details the implementation of the MoU relating to cooperation in the management of important mineral materials, which was signed on February 21 2023 in Perth, Australia, by KADIN Chairman Arsjad Rasjid and Deputy Premier Hon Roger Cook MLA.

"The Action Plan is a follow-up to the commitment made at the B20/G20 last November 2022", said Chairman of the Indonesia-Australia Business Council (IABC) George Marantika.

This collaboration is under the auspices of the Indonesia-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) which has been implemented since 5 July 2020.

The cooperation that is the focus of the Action Plan covers the pillars of Supply Chain, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and Skilled Workforce Development and targets the development of battery and critical mineral industries that add value, are resilient, and sustainable in both countries.

“The partnership between Indonesia and Western Australia can open up great opportunities in the important mineral sector, considering that Western Australia has abundant mineral reserves to produce electric vehicle batteries. "Australia will be a supplier of Lithium and Indonesia will be a supplier of Nickel, both of which are main components in EV production", said Indonesian Ambassador to Canberra Siswo Pramono.

Both countries can contribute more to the global supply chain by providing global needs for batteries and important minerals, especially as Indonesia is projected to become a nickel battery processing center with nickel reserves and abundant labor.