Erick Thohir: Electric Car And Motor Industry Creates New Jobs Fields

Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

SOE Minister Erick Thohir revealed that the electric car and motorcycle industry has the opportunity to create new jobs for young Indonesian creators. Erick said that we must encourage car and electric motorcycle infrastructure, especially when there is great potential related to motorcycles in Indonesia, considering that Indonesians have always loved making and buying motorbikes. "This is an opportunity with an electric battery that maybe we are not machine experts, we don't need to waste any more time intervening with electric batteries. In the future, who knows young Indonesian creators who usually build motorbikes and custom cars, this is a new job because we just have to buy electric batteries. This is what we have to think about," he said at the SOE International Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, quoted from Antara, Monday, October 17. Indonesia has imported fuel since 2003. Therefore, the government issued a policy program to change or reduce fuel needs with electric cars and motorcycles, or as launched in Mojokerto, East Java, sugar into bioethenol, such as in Brazil. Moreover, Indonesia has also succeeded with the B40 biodiesel where Indonesia is the only country that has succeeded with B40. "This means that if there are motorbikes and electric cars, there are bioethenol and B40, we hope that the need for fuel imports will not increase. Why doesn't it just increase? Remember, petrochemicals need crude oil," said Erick. Previously, Deputy Minister (Wamen) of BUMN I Pahala Nugraha Mansury stated that the use of electric motorcycles for the community could save the operational costs of around Rp. 1 million to Rp. 1.5 million per year. In addition to bringing benefits to the community, he continued, the government will also benefit in the form of savings of IDR 1 million to IDR 1.2 million per year assuming the average community fills fuel of approximately six liters per week. He said the program to use electric vehicles is one of five government initiatives at the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) to be able to make an energy transition, one of which is by building an electric vehicle ecosystem.