Indonesian minister says Musk will consider offer to build EV battery factory in the country

By Stefanno Sulaiman

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia’s investment coordinating minister said Elon Musk will consider an offer to build an electric vehicle battery factory in the country, after the Tesla CEO met with President Joko Widodo on Monday .

Musk was not immediately available for comment after Minister Luhut Pandjaitan made his comments to reporters.

Musk and Widodo met in Bali, Indonesia, after both attending the World Water Forum on Monday. “We made an offer, it is possible to build an EV battery factory here, precursor cathode. And he will consider it,” Luhut told reporters.

Luhut said Widodo also asked Musk to consider investing in an AI center in the Southeast Asian country and for SpaceX to build a launch pad on Biak Island in Indonesia’s Papua province, an offer the government has made before.

The Indonesian government has been trying for years to attract Tesla to build electric vehicle-related factories, as the government wants to develop its electric vehicle sector using the country’s rich nickel resources.

On Sunday, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service for the healthcare sector in Indonesia.

Starlink was now commercially available, but the government would focus its services first on outer, underdeveloped regions.

SpaceX’s Starlink, which owns about 60% of the roughly 7,500 satellites orbiting Earth, is dominant in the satellite Internet sphere.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman in Denpasar and Ananda Teresia in Jakarta; Editing by John Mair)