JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has asked Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holding Co. Ltd (0175.HK) to help it manufacture domestically produced electric vehicles by 2025 or 2026, a senior minister said on Tuesday. , and added that the automaker had agreed.
Geely did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Luhut Pandjaitan, the minister who oversees regulations on natural resources and investment, said at the seminar: “I suggested to Geely that we want to manufacture cars in Indonesia, but we want them to be an Indonesian brand and we want to do research in Indonesia. I said yes,” he said.
He said the proposal includes Indonesia’s supply of nickel ore to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries, but research needs to be led by Indonesia.
Indonesia is encouraging EV manufacturers to invest in the country by offering access to its rich nickel reserves, a key component in EV batteries. But so far, success has been mixed.
Vietnamese EV company VinFast announced on Monday that it plans to invest about $1.2 billion in Indonesia over the long term, including building a factory with production expected to begin in 2026.
Last month, China’s Hozon New Energy Automobile and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (7211.T) pledged to invest in EV production in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
However, efforts by authorities to secure investment from Tesla, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and China’s BYD Group have yet to materialize.
Report by Fransiska Nangoy and Stefanno Sulaiman. Written by Gayatri Sroyo.Editing: Kanupriya Kapoor
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