The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marve), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said, on Monday (16/1), an electric battery manufacturer from China, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), has signed an investment agreement with Mind ID. With this agreement, it is predicted that in 2027 Indonesia will become the third largest country in the world as a producer of lithium batteries and electric vehicles. "If this goes according to plan, our first lithium battery can be produced in 2025, and later in 2027, we will probably be one of the three largest in the world that produces lithium batteries, including EV cars," he said, attending virtually at the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) National Coordination Meeting, Tuesday ( 17/1). Furthermore, said Luhut, RI's exports in 2017-2018 still relied on iron steel (steel and iron). Until 2021, transforming into producing lithium batteries for electric vehicles. "It seems that our export figures have increased very well this year, nearly 11 billion US dollars, coupled with an increase in the downstream industry or the downstreaming of only nickel ore. So, when we come to lithium batteries, I think this number will be much greater. ," he explained.
To accelerate investment realization in the downstream industry, the focus is on granting permits and tax holiday facilities. Therefore, he asked the local government to simplify the licensing process. Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said the production of electric car batteries in Indonesia would start in early 2024. He said this after a Limited Meeting (Ratas) regarding the Development of the Electric Vehicle Ecosystem, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (13/1). "It is planned that in 2024 our (electric car battery) production will start at the start, in the first half of 2024 which will be built by LG in Karawang. Second, the upstream to downstream ecosystem between CATL and LG will also start construction this year," said Bahlil in a Cabinet Secretariat press release. Bahlil said that the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem, including batteries, was needed to prevent the large market owned by Indonesia from being penetrated by products from abroad.
