Indonesia Offers Investment Opportunities in EV Battery Development

Indonesia is opening investment opportunities to develop a national battery manufacturing ecosystem valued at USD121 billion. The country offers abundant natural resources that serve as the primary foundation for battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. Four of the six main ingredients for making EV batteries are found in Indonesia: nickel, bauxite, manganese, and copper, which are critical materials in the EV battery supply chain. This advantage provides Indonesia with a strong foundation to advance from mineral and material processing into battery and electric vehicle manufacturing. Indonesia is the largest nickel producer, holding 42 per cent of global resources, and has developed 28 other commodities with competitive advantages through its downstreaming strategy. The nation aims to build a robust EV battery industry focusing on the supply chain through to battery packaging, with a target of becoming one of the world’s top five EV battery producers by 2045. Downstream processing can create significant added value; for nickel, the value can increase 67-fold when transformed into EV batteries. Investment is focused on building advanced smelters to produce high-value final products, including EV battery cell manufacturing. Indonesia is currently one of the few countries with an integrated industry across the entire supply chain, and many major EV battery players have already entered the market. The downstreaming ecosystem also reduces costs by eliminating lost production networks, export duties, and taxes, as resources are available within a single country. Through investment and the downstreaming approach, the country’s investment value could reach USD618 billion, boost export value by approximately USD857 billion, and create over three million jobs. Investment in Indonesia remains dominated by the mineral sector at approximately IDR98.3 trillion, followed by the plantation and forestry sector at IDR29.8 trillion, oil and gas at around IDR17.6 trillion, and the marine sector at approximately IDR1.7 trillion.