Jakarta (ANTARA) - CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, will visit Jakarta in late September or early October this year, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan informed on Monday.

His visit to Jakarta will be a follow-up to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin's meeting with Musk in the United States earlier this month.

Musk is expected to sign an agreement with the government on using Starlink's satellite network to provide internet access to remote health centers, Pandjaitan told reporters at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Monday.

The Health Ministry is planning to provide internet access at health centers located in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas by using Musk's Starlink service called low-earth orbit (LEO).

In addition, Musk's visit to Jakarta will explore potential investment in the production of lithium battery materials.

The Indonesian Government has been wooing Musk since 2020 to invest in the country and take part in Indonesia's nickel industry and supply of batteries for electric vehicles.

Pandjaitan noted that Musk will likely finalize the deal if the negotiation process can be completed by September 2023.

However, he said he could not yet disclose the estimated investment that Musk will channel to Indonesia.

Regarding whether there are any plans for Tesla's investment in Indonesia, Pandjaitan stated that Tesla's investments worldwide will still be postponed for the next 1.5 years, including the previous agreement in Mexico.

Tesla is being cautious in its investments due to global economic uncertainty and tensions between the United States and China over Taiwan.

However, according to him, Tesla still sees Indonesia as a priority for investment.

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Translator: Shofi Ayudiana, Indra Arief
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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