Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is keen that Indonesia becomes an important player in the global electric car industry, as the country has enormous mineral resources to support the development of electric cars.
"We must become an important player in the global supply chain for the electric car industry," Jokowi remarked during his visit to the PT Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (HMMI) in Cikarang on Wednesday.
On the same occasion, the president also witnessed the launch of the first electric car assembled in Indonesia, called Ioniq 5.
With this launch, Jokowi is optimistic that mineral resources available in Indonesia, such as nickel and cobalt, as important materials for lithium batteries, would support the development of electric cars in Indonesia.
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Jokowi also noted that Indonesia's bauxite can be processed into aluminum for electric car frames. Moreover, copper could be processed for batteries and cable systems in electric cars.
"We must accelerate the downstreaming of our mineral resources to increase the added value and provide optimal added value," he affirmed.
However, to become a key player in the electric vehicle industry, Jokowi deems it necessary to build a strong ecosystem.
"Without a strong domestic ecosystem, it will be difficult for us to compete with other countries in building the electric car industry," he affirmed.
Jokowi noted that the year 2022 will become an important period for the development of lithium batteries for electric vehicles.
"Several investors will start their construction and be ready to process nickel and cobalt into lithium battery materials. By 2024, electric cars produced in Indonesia will use electric batteries and other important components produced in our country," he noted.
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The government will also continue to encourage an increase in the use of local content for electric vehicles, he stated.
"Our effort to increase local content in electric vehicles could be seen in providing incentives and reducing various regulatory barriers to support the upstream industry of electric vehicles. It will also have a multiplier effect in terms of job creation and import substitution," Jokowi stated.
Earlier, the HMMI had targeted to export its production to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The factory also planned to export 59 thousand completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles per year to Australia and the Middle East.
The HMMI projects that its factory would bring contribution worth US$20 billion in a decade and would absorb 23 thousand workers in the vicinity.
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