Coordinating Minister Airlangga: The Indonesian Electric Vehicle Ecosystem Must Compete With Thailand

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said the Indonesian electric vehicle ecosystem must compete with Thailand, in accordance with President Joko Widodo's direction.

Therefore, the government is currently continuing to finalize regulations related to electric vehicles. As for the incentives that have been determined in advance, namely for two-wheeled electric motorized vehicles of Rp. 7 million, while the amount of incentives for other electric vehicles is still under consideration.

"If Thailand provides incentives of around Rp. 80 million per electric car," said Airlangga at the CNBC Economic Outlook 2023 event, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, February 28.

He explained that incentives for two-wheeled motorized vehicles of Rp. 7 million will be given both for new motorbikes and for motorcycle replacements. The regulation will come out in the near future.

Although the amount of incentives for other vehicles has not been determined, it is certain that the incentives for electric vehicles, both motorbikes and cars, will all be based on domestic production.

The decision aims to encourage downstreaming based on the electric vehicle ecosystem to boost the improvement of the manufacturing ecosystem that has improved at this time.

Airlangga revealed that the manufacturing sector is getting better with the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which is at the level of 51.3 in January 2023.

This improvement is in line with the performance of automotive sales which had reached a record in 2022, namely 1.04 million units or higher than the conditions before COVID-19.

"In fact, our automotive exports have increased by 60 percent and have been exported to more than 70 countries," he added.