The proposal came from one of the most renowned electric car producers in the world and the investment is intended for developing factories and distribution networks, he informed during a copper-foil factory groundbreaking in Gresik, East Java, on Tuesday.
He said that the potential investor has asked for the country's assistance in obtaining supply of copper, which is one of the raw materials used in electric car manufacturing.
"This will be a game changer Mr. President because the electric car that they produce matches Indonesians' taste at an affordable price," he informed without mentioning the name of the potential investor.
On account of this, within the electric car ecosystem development push, copper downstreaming in Indonesia should become the main priority, Pandjaitan said.
A single electric car requires 56 kilograms of copper, not including the copper needed for building electric car batteries, he pointed out.
Hence, the construction of copper processing factories has become very important. This is because Indonesia also has a target of producing millions of electric cars and motorcycles, Pandjaitan added.
Indonesia has the capital to become an important player in the electric car industry given its large copper reserves and regulations mandating entrepreneurs to create copper smelters, he said.
"This will be an important capital in attracting investment for the Indonesian electric car (industry),” he underlined.
The minister also explained that given the electric car industry's development potential, the tin, copper, nickel, cobalt, and bauxite downstreaming strategies must be integrated.
"This is done to create an electric car ecosystem, integrated lithium battery, and also (meet) other technological needs," he elaborated.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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