TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan shared optimism that Indonesia will become one of the top three producers of electric vehicle (EV) battery in the world by 2027.

“By 2027, we may be one of the top three countries in the world producing EV batteries as well as electric cars,” he said at the 2023 National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads and Forkopimda on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

He said the optimism was also supported by the partnership deal on the development of the ecosystem between state-owned mining holding MIND ID and China-based battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited (CATL) on Monday, January 16, 2023.

“So we are ready to enter a new era of building a lithium battery ecosystem and electric cars as well. If everything goes as planned, we will be able to produce the first lithium battery in 2025,” Luhut said confidently.

The country’s export performance was instantly lifted by the downstream project boosted by the government. He noted that the export of nickel derivatives jumped significantly from US$8.1 billion to US$33.8 billion in 2022.

“It seems that our exports have seen a high increase this year, nearly 11 billion US dollars, added with the hike in the downstream industry or the downstream of nickel ore. So when we reach [to the production of] lithium batteries, I think the figure will be far bigger,” he said.

Luhut further predicted that exports of nickel derivatives could double if the downstream plan and the EV battery industry ecosystem could proceed in the next four to five years.

ANTARA