TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto on Friday, April 28, said ASEAN will need to establish an electric vehicle ecosystem and hoped that Indonesia will be one of the countries in the region able to create such an ecosystem, backed by raw materials vastly available in the country.

He also called for ASEAN members to collectively push for the creation of such an ecosystem in the region.

“Two producers of electric vehicles (EV) are Thailand and Indonesia. But the one that has the battery [resources] is only Indonesia. The Philippines is another that has the raw material sources,” said Airlangga in a statement to Antaranews on Friday, April 28.

Previously, the coordinating minister emphasized the country’s great potential in producing batteries for electric vehicles and asserted that pure nickel is able to be produced in Central and Southeast Sulawesi. Airlangga also noted cobalt, which is one of the main components in EVs, which also is available in Indonesia.

Head of the Electric Vehicle Battery Development Team Agus Tjahajana said that the main raw material reserves for EV batteries are managed by state mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam).

"Nickel reserves [here] can last up to 30 years to support the electric battery industry business in Indonesia," said Agus, claiming that Indonesia has 24 percent of the world’s high and low-grade nickel ore.

The government established the Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) on March 26, 2021, which have the goal of developing electric vehicle batteries.

DICKY KURNIAWAN | ANTARA

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