After China And South Korea, Bahlil Invites Europe To Invest In Electric Vehicle Battery Factory In Karawang, West Java

Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia invited European investors to invest in Indonesia and build the electric vehicle battery industry.

"At this moment we invite investors from Europe to take part in the battery (electric vehicle) industry," he said in a webinar entitled "Post Pandemic Economic Recovery: Attracting Investment through Structural Reform" held by Eurocham and the Ministry of Investment/BKPM, quoted from Antara. , Tuesday 21 September.

In order to build downstream industries, the Indonesian government continues to encourage the development of the electric vehicle battery industry in the country. Indonesia has pocketed an investment of 9.8 billion US dollars (equivalent to Rp. 142 trillion) for the development of an integrated electric vehicle battery industry from South Korea.

Last week, Wednesday, September 15, the first phase of investment from the country of ginseng has begun to be realized with the construction of a battery cell factory worth US$1.1 billion in Karawang, West Java.

Not only South Korea, by the end of this year an electric vehicle battery factory will also be built by CATL, an electric vehicle battery manufacturer from China.

Bahlil also invited European investors to invest in the industrial ecosystem because the majority of the raw materials for electric vehicle batteries can be obtained in Indonesia.

"Why am I offering this (to Europe)? There are four raw material components for car batteries, namely nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium. In Indonesia, we have three types of raw materials, namely nickel, manganese and cobalt, while we take lithium from abroad. ," he said.

The former Chairperson of Hipmi also said that around 24-26 percent of the world's nickel reserves are in Indonesia. This fact is certainly very beneficial for Indonesia because of the guaranteed supply of raw materials.

"So allow us to give time to Indonesia to build downstream. We want to contribute to the world with quality products and high technology," he said.

Bahlil welcomes investors to enter Indonesia by bringing capital, technology and markets. The government will take care of the permits, incentives, and even land matters.

He also reminded that investment must also involve BUMN, national entrepreneurs and MSMEs.

"We can manage the mine, the important thing is that there is good communication with the government. We believe that collaboration must be built both between investors, SOEs as well as with national entrepreneurs and MSMEs," he said.

Not only investing in the electric vehicle battery industry, Bahlil also invited European investors in other business fields. Indonesia is rich in natural resources such as coal and palm oil.

Bahlil also emphasized that the government will continue to make arrangements to maintain environmental sustainability.

"Rest assured, that we are making arrangements to also respect the environment, including nickel, coal. We are pro-environment, we want Indonesia to be able to give its best contribution to the world in maintaining the climate," he said.