TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia and Japan continue to forge cooperation in the development of automotive industry, including encouraging the accelerated development of environmentally friendly vehicles.

The strategic step will be realized through synergy between the Indonesian Industry Ministry and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Means and Electronics Industry (ILMATE) of the Indonesian Industry Ministry Harjanto said in a written statement released on Saturday.

"They (METI) gave a picture of how to develop electric vehicle industry. We discussed the policy of developing automotive industry in the two countries, among others ," he said referring to the 2nd Indonesia-Japan Automotive Dialogue held in Bali.

At the dialogue the two sides also discussed the trend in the use of electric cars and the development lithium battery in the world.

Harjanto said the dialogue was aimed at sharing knowledge and experience about technical standardization and regulations implemented in the two countries, including the use of new and renewable energy (biofuel).

"We also got inputs from them particularly to implement the use of B30 (30 percent blended biodiesel). For instance, they gave us inputs on how to get fuel of better quality. For instance, the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) mix still has to be processed to produce hydrogenated vegetable oil," he said.

The two sides also discussed investment and incentives in the development of electric vehicle industry. Moreover, Indonesia and Japan have long established strategic partnership in the economic field.

Japan is the largest investor in Indonesia's transportation means. with a total investment of Rp7.46 trillion until the third quarter of 2019.

In the automotive sector, Japan is also one of success stories in the eyes of investors wishing to continue to invest in the country. In fact, leading Japanese automotive manufacturers have made Indonesia their production base to meet demand from the domestic and overseas markets.

"We told them that the Indonesian government has issued Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2019 and Government Regulation No. 73 of 2019 aimed at accelerating the development of electric vehicles," he said.

ANTARA