Pertamina, PLN And Friends Along With LG Lauched Erick Thohir To Complete An Electric Car Battery Factory In 2023: Allah Is Good For Indonesia

Minister of BUMN, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of BUMN)

JAKARTA - The government is targeting the electric vehicle battery (EV Battery), aka Indonesia's battery industry, to operate in 2023. The government is currently negotiating with a number of global electric vehicle manufacturers to enter this ecosystem.

State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Erick Thohir said that his party would form a collaboration with a state-owned company to build a giant electric car battery or EV battery factory in Indonesia. The three BUMNs will collaborate with companies from abroad to build factories.

The consortium consists of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Persero), PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTM), PT Pertamina (Persero), and PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero), and MIND ID as Holding BUMN Mining. In the consortium, MIND ID will collaborate with the electric vehicle (EV) battery company from South Korea, LG Energy Solution Ltd (LG).

"We will make a national battery company partner Catl and LG Chem. This is for 2023. Indonesia's program is growing, I think God is good with Indonesia," he said in the CNBC Outlook 2021 event, Thursday, February 25.

According to Erick, the downstream policy for the electric car battery industry is part of the government's efforts to reduce raw material exports. Moreover, Indonesia is the main raw material producer for electric car batteries, namely nickel.

"EV battery talks about government policies so that our strength is apart from the market, but SDA can maintain consistency, one of which is about nickel. We don't want nickel to be sent abroad in raw conditions, how can it be processed domestically," he said.

The development of EV is a golden opportunity for the government to make Indonesia a producer of electric vehicles in the midst of the discourse on the use of renewable energy or renewable energy, which is a hot topic of developed countries in the world.

Erick said that currently commodities from Indonesia have been a strength for a long time. Commodity prices continue to increase today, including nickel, coal, palm oil, rubber, copper and cocoa.

"This is why no longer do these commodities just be released as usual, but added value must be done. Thus, our exports are encouraged to balance exports and downstream in the country. So that when these commodities are no longer taking sides with us, we will feel the added value. can be obtained by Indonesia as a whole, "he said.