TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in a meeting with House legislators on Friday suggested that the country should not be open to the expansion of imported electric vehicles despite the government is currently boosting the use of EVs. Indonesia set a goal to see 80 percent use of electric vehicles by 2030.

"We don't want the Indonesian people to pay for labor abroad. So the working hours to remain in Indonesia, this is very important," said Agus Gumiwang in a joint working meeting with the House's Commission VII, on December 9.

The Minister admitted that the population of electric vehicles in Indonesia is still very small. Based on data from the Ministry of Transportation as of September 8, there were 25,316 registered electric vehicles consisting of 21,668 motorbikes, 3,317 cars, 274 three-wheeled vehicles, 51 buses, and 6 commercial cars.

To encourage the expansion of the use of electric vehicles in the country, the Indonesian government has taken various steps by issuing a number of policies, one of which is Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 7/2022 that requires the use of electric vehicles as official vehicles for the central government to regional governments.

DICKY KURNIAWAN

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