JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesia will launch a new set of incentives to attract investment from manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs), according to
Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources Luhut Pandjaitan.
The government is also in talks with major auto companies, including Tesla and BYD, he added.
During a nickel industry conference hosted by CNBC Indonesia, Pandjaitan said the incentives for automakers will be benchmarked against those offered by regional rivals Thailand and Vietnam.
The largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia in encouraging EV makers to invest in the country, as it has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, which is used to manufacture EV batteries.
However, China’s BYD and other automakers have chosen to invest in Thailand, the region’s automotive hub.
“Tomorrow we are going to finalize incentives that we are going to give to any EV investment in Indonesia,” Luhut said, following approval from President Joko Widodo.
Luhut plans to meet BYD executives in China’s city of Chengdu this week, and a meeting is also scheduled on 3rd August with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk in California, US, he added.
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