Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, has confirmed receipt of a USD 1.3-billion investment proposal for the Indonesian electric car industry to President Jokowi, according to reporting from Antara News.
The proposal has apparently come from one of the world’s most renowned electric car producers and the investment is intended for developing factories and distribution networks, the minister announced at a copper-foil factory ground breaking in Gresik, East Java, on Tuesday.
He said that the potential investor has asked for the country’s assistance in obtaining a supply of copper, which is one of the raw materials used in electric car manufacturing, say Antara News.
“This will be a game changer Mr. President because the electric car that they produce matches Indonesians’ taste at an affordable price,” he said without mentioning the name of the potential investor.
The minister went on to say that because of this, copper down streaming in Indonesia should become a main priority within the electric car ecosystem development push.
A single electric car requires 56-kilograms of copper, not including the copper needed for building electric car batteries, he pointed out.
Antara News report that as a result, the construction of copper processing factories has become very important, especially as Indonesia also has a target of producing millions of electric cars and motorcycles.
Indonesia has the capital to become an important player in the electric car industry given its large copper reserves and regulations mandating entrepreneurs to create copper smelters, the minister said.
“This will be an important capital in attracting investment for the Indonesian electric car (industry),” he underlined.
The minister also explained that given the electric car industry’s development potential, the tin, copper, nickel, cobalt, and bauxite down streaming strategies must also be integrated.
“This is done to create an electric car ecosystem, integrated lithium battery, and also (meet) other technological needs,” he elaborated.
Source: Antara News
Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash
