Signing Contract For Electric Vehicle Battery Industry With Hyundai, Bahlil: Must Collaborate With Local MSMEs

Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Hyundai Consortium and PT Indonesia Battery Industry (IBI) to build an electric vehicle battery industry. The investment value of this agreement is US$1.1 billion.

Bahlil said, the agreement also stipulates that it must absorb 1,000 local workers. The signing of the MoU is part of the South Korean company's investment commitment of US$9.8 billion.

Furthermore, Bahlil acknowledged that this cooperation agreement was realized through a long process and negotiation so that it could benefit all parties.

"Implementation of this cooperation requires companies to cooperate with local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) entrepreneurs and actors. This is a mandate from Law No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation (UU CK)," he said through his statement, Thursday, July 29.

Bahlil explained that this project is one of the government's steps to encourage the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia as a whole from upstream to downstream.

According to Bahlil, these efforts will be of special concern to the government, which aims to restore the economy which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We will oversee from beginning to end the investment for this cell battery," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Indonesia Park Taesung expressed his appreciation to the Government of Indonesia, in particular the Minister of Investment and the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) for the realization of this collaboration.

Park Taesung said that this cooperation in investing in electric cars and batteries will be an innovative contributor to running an economy that is more environmentally, technology, and export-oriented.

"I, as the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Indonesia, will mobilize all support so that this cooperation becomes one of the best and most successful cooperations between Korea and Indonesia," he said.