Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan led an Indonesian delegation to a meeting with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the United States to talk about potential investments in Indonesia’s electric vehicle (EV) industry. Leading business figures Anindya Bakrie and Pandu Sjahrir, who were part of the delegation, took to Instagram on Tuesday to post updates about the meeting at Tesla’s new factory in Austin, Texas.
“We aim to convince Tesla to explore partnerships with Indonesia in the procurement and development of nickel [as a] raw material for battery cells based on ESG,” Anindya wrote, referring to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards of doing business.
Musk said in July 2020 that Tesla would grant a “giant contract for a long period of time” to nickel miners that operated “efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way” as part of the carmaker’s ESG commitment. The meeting aimed to woo Tesla to invest in Indonesia amid the government’s efforts to pursue President Joko Widodo’s goal of developing the downstream mining sector.
Indonesia made global headlines in 2020 when it banned nickel ore exports in a bid to force miners to develop their downstream nickel businesses, particularly for manufacturing stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries (EVBs). The following year in March, the government launched the Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), a state-owned EVB company.
The delegation also extended a formal invitation to Musk to join the Business 20 (B20) International Advocacy Caucus under Indonesia’s G20 presidency, added Anindnya, who also chairs the advisory board of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).
Meanwhile, Pandu said in his Instagram post that the meeting discussed EVs, renewable energy, and the B20 policy, adding that Musk was “very excited” to talk about developing Indonesia’s nickel and EV industries. Pandu, who is Luhut’s nephew, wears several hats, including chairman of the Indonesian Coal Association (APBI) and a board member of on-demand and payment services super-app Gojek.
“Hopefully this meeting will bring in more [high-tech investment] and Indonesia can be an important part of the global electric vehicle industry,” he wrote in his post.
April 26, 2022, The Jakarta Post
(https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2022/04/26/luhut-led-delegation-meets-musk-to-talk-investing-in-ri-evs.html)