Jokowi lays out his pitch for why Elon Musk ought to put money into Indonesia

President Joko Widodo denied that Indonesia has turned protectionist throughout his tenure, saying the gates stay open to all gamers — together with Tesla — who need to use the nation’s plentiful pure assets, in the event that they arrange crops that may add worth to the native financial system.

Widodo, or Jokowi as he’s popularly recognized at dwelling, mentioned the federal government has been in talks with electrical carmaker Tesla in addition to Ford and different automotive corporations to arrange manufacturing amenities, together with a car manufacturing unit, in Indonesia.

The Indonesian president mentioned he met Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief govt officer and the world’s richest man, in Could after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a summit for Southeast Asian leaders. Jokowi mentioned he steered that Tesla might base its total provide chain within the nation.

“We had numerous discussions, significantly on how Tesla can construct their business from upstream to downstream, end-to finish ranging from smelter then construct the cathode and precursor business, construct EV batteries, construct lithium batteries [and] then the car manufacturing unit. All the things in Indonesia, as a result of that is very environment friendly. That is what I supplied,” Widodo instructed CNBC in an unique interview on Friday in Serang metropolis in Banten province.

He mentioned Musk despatched a group to Indonesia six weeks in the past “to test the potential of nickel, to test environmental features, however the car-related group has not come.”  

He mentioned a group might go to within the “close to future” to judge the potential. Jokowi, who has additionally invited Musk to the G-20 summit, which Indonesia is internet hosting this 12 months in Bali, mentioned there may be “no choice but” on Tesla’s plans to put money into Indonesia. 

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest financial system, has considerable pure deposits of tin, copper, nickel, cobalt and bauxite, a few of that are key supplies for electric vehicle batteries.

Underneath Jokowi, resource-rich Indonesia has banned the export of key commodities, together with unprocessed nickel in 2020, coal in 2021 and edible oil in April. The final measure was aimed toward stabilizing home costs.

“No, I feel it is not protectionism. However we wish that added worth to be in Indonesia … If we maintain exporting the uncooked supplies, those who get the added worth are different nations,” he mentioned.

In a bid to spice up its financial system and put its pure assets to make use of in home manufacturing, Indonesia needs to maneuver away from exporting uncooked supplies. It additionally needs to be a worldwide participant in EV batteries and a manufacturer of electric cars. 

“We need to construct an industrial ecosystem for lithium batteries,” Jokowi mentioned, arguing this might additionally create jobs and generate tax income.