Indonesia Offers Investment Opportunities in EV Battery Development Worth USD 121 Billion

Jakarta - Director of Downstreaming Strategy and Governance at the Ministry of Downstreaming and Investment/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Ahmad Faisal Suralaga, stated that Indonesia is opening investment opportunities to develop a national battery manufacturing ecosystem worth USD 121 billion. Speaking at the Korea-Indonesia Economic Partnership Forum in Jakarta on Wednesday, Ahmad said Indonesia offers abundant natural resources that form the primary foundation for battery production and the electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem. “Six main materials are needed to make EV batteries, and four of them are found in Indonesia. We have nickel, bauxite, manganese, and copper, which are important materials in the EV battery supply chain. This advantage provides Indonesia with a strong foundation to develop mineral processing and battery materials into battery and electric vehicle manufacturing,” Ahmad said. He noted that Indonesia is the largest nickel producer, accounting for 42 per cent of global resource availability. Beyond nickel, Indonesia has also developed 28 other commodities with competitive advantages through its downstreaming strategy. With these investment opportunities, he said Indonesia aims to build a robust EV battery industry focusing on the supply chain network through to battery packaging. “By 2045, Indonesia intends to become one of the world’s top five EV battery producers. This is possible because downstreaming creates the highest added value; for example, nickel’s added value can increase 67-fold if we transform it into EV batteries,” he added. According to him, investment is focused on building advanced smelters to produce high-value final products, up to EV battery cell manufacturing. He said 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 Indonesia. The downstreaming ecosystem also serves as Indonesia’s main capital in developing the EV battery industry, which can reduce costs caused by missing production networks, such as export duties and taxes, with resources available in one country. Ahmad said that through investment and the downstreaming approach, the country’s investment value could reach USD 618 billion, increase export value to around USD 857 billion, and absorb more than 3 million jobs. He noted that investment by various countries in Indonesia is still dominated by the mineral sector at approximately IDR 98.3 trillion, followed by the plantation and forestry sector at IDR 29.8 trillion, oil and gas at around IDR 17.6 trillion, and the marine sector at approximately IDR 1.7 trillion.