(Discussion on) critical minerals is closely related to Indonesia's attempts in developing the electric vehicle ecosystem...Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Rosan Perkasa Roeslani said discussion on critical minerals is important for Indonesia since it has the world's largest reserves of nickel that can be used for electric vehicle batteries.
“I think Indonesia can become a strategic partner of the United States in developing the electric vehicle ecosystem," he stated in a statement received on Sunday.
The United States’ Energy Act of 2020 describes critical minerals as minerals, elements, substances, or materials designated as critical by the Department of the Interior and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), according to information on the website of the Department of Energy.
The USGS recorded that Indonesia's nickel reserves reached 21 million metric tons in 2022 or equivalent to 22 percent of the total of global reserves.
In addition, Indonesia is also the biggest nickel producer, whose production is recorded at one million metric tons per year, surpassing the production of the Philippines and Russia of 370 thousand metric tons and 250 thousand metric tons per year, respectively.
He further noted that critical minerals are a strategic issue for Indonesia since the supplies of the materials may be disrupted by geological scarcity, geopolitical disturbances, and other instability.
"(Discussion on) critical minerals is closely related to Indonesia's attempts in developing the electric vehicle ecosystem, especially to become the supplier of electric vehicle batteries to the United States and other countries,” he remarked.
He continued that the critical minerals are also the basic materials for developing defense and green technology industries.
Roeslani accompanied Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) meeting in Detroit, the United States, on May 26-27, 2023.
The Indonesian ambassador said Coordinating Minister Hartarto emphasized the importance of critical minerals as the materials for the semiconductor and high technology industries at the IPEF ministerial meeting and every bilateral meeting with other representatives of IPEF member countries.
The ambassador stated that IPEF member countries supported Indonesia's attempt to raise critical minerals as one of the issues of the Pillar I of the forum, which discussed trade issues.
In addition to trade, the discussion in the IPEF also focused on supply chain (Pillar II), clean economy (Pillar III), and fair economy (Pillar IV).
The IPEF, which was launched by US President Joe Biden in Tokyo, Japan, in May 2022, is a cooperation forum of 14 countries in the Indo-Pacific region that represent more than 40 percent of the global economy and 28 percent of global trade in goods and services.
The countries are Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.
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Translator: Kelik Dewanto, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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