TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi and the Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia inspected the electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant of PT Hyundai LG Indonesia (HLI) Green Power in Karawang, West Java. Bahlil said the factory is the first and largest EV battery producer in Southeast Asia.

PT HLI Green Power is an EV battery manufacturing joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company, LG Energy Solution, and PT Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC).

“This factory applies LG's latest technology. Among the five LG factories in the world, this factory in Indonesia uses the latest technology,” Bahlil said in his statement on Thursday evening, September 14, 2023.

He said the investment value of the factory which is integrated with the Grand Package upstream-downstream battery project reached US$3.1 billion or Rp45.88 trillion.

The current production facilities in Karawang New Industry City (KNIC) are the first of two phases of the planned investment project. The groundbreaking ceremony was held two years ago.

BKPM noted that the investment value of the first phase was US$1.1 billion or Rp16.28 trillion, with a production capacity of 10 GWh. Meanwhile, commercial production was targeted in April 2024.

By mid-2023, BKPM claimed the company had absorbed 1,000 Indonesian workers. Bahlil said this reflected the government's commitment to boosting the downstream sector. “This is the President's vision to build the downstream sector,” he added.

Bahlil said that this EV battery factory really uses high technology and will be operated by Indonesian workers as more than 100 people have been sent to Korea to study.

The construction of the second phase will begin in January 2024 and commercial production is expected in March 2025 with a capacity of 20 GWh. The investment value was US$2 billion or Rp29.60 trillion. BKPM estimated that this development will absorb 2,800 Indonesian workers.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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