Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said that Indonesia's electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem should compete with that of Thailand.

At the “CNBC Economic Outlook 2023” followed online on Tuesday, he said the government is continuing to finalize regulations related to electric vehicles.

The incentive for electric two-wheeled vehicles has been set at Rp7 million (around US$459.3), while that for other EVs is still being determined, he said.

"Meanwhile, Thailand provides an incentive of around Rp80 million per electric car," he informed.

The Rp7 million incentive for two-wheeled vehicles in Indonesia will be provided for new motorcycles as well as motorcycle changes. The regulation on this will be issued in the near future.

He said the electric vehicle incentive for both motorcycles and cars will be entirely based on domestic production.

The decision is intended to encourage electric vehicle-based downstreaming to support the improvement of the manufacturing ecosystem, which has currently recovered.

Indonesia’s manufacturing sector has continued to improve with the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reaching 51.3 in January 2023, Hartarto said.

This improvement came with record-breaking automotive sales, which reached 1.04 million units in 2022, higher than the pre-pandemic figures.

"In fact, our automotive export increased 60 percent, and it has been exported to more than 70 countries," he added.

During the event, the minister also urged investors to maintain their trust in investing in Indonesia during the political year since the government and the parliament are providing them guarantee.

He underlined that the 2024 General Elections will not be the first that Indonesia has held, but are the fifth general elections in the post-reformation period.

Throughout the elections held in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019, Indonesia's condition remained stable, he said.

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Translator: Agatha Olivia V, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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