Luhut Says Tesla, Indonesia Yet to Reach Investment Deal

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan confirmed that Indonesia and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have not yet reached an investment agreement. He said such a decision required a lengthy process and time, let alone it is a huge investment.

“So we'll have to be patient, so that we can really bring great benefits to the community and the country as we all expected,” said Luhut in a statement, Monday, May 23, 2022.

However, Luhut said he had been in touch both with Elon Musk and Tesla for the past two years. The founder of SpaceX, according to Luhut, is highly interested in Indonesia’s nickel industry which is considered promising to meet the needs of the electric vehicle or EV ecosystem.

Since the meeting at the Tesla’s EV factory in Austin, Texas, on April 26, Luhut said his ministry and the Tesla team had continued to carry out intensive negotiations.

He also said that the Tesla team made a haste action as they came to Indonesia in early May and visited several nickel processing factories. “We must remember that this is still in the negotiation stage, so once again, we all must be patient,” Luhut remarked.

Luhut and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo recently met with Elon Musk and visited the SpaceX factory in Boca Chica, Texas. They discussed investment, technology, and innovation. Jokowi also invited the world’s richest person to attend the Business 20 or B20 forum, which is a series of G20 events.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA

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