Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the first electric vehicle battery factory in Indonesia, on Wednesday.

The factory owned by PT HKML Battery Indonesia, which is located in the Karawang New Industrial City Complex, Karawang district, West Java province, is also the first factory of its kind in Southeast Asia.

In his remarks, the president said that the Indonesian government is fully committed to providing supports in developing the battery and electric vehicle industry ecosystem in the country.

The government will also continue to roll out structural reforms to provide legal certainty and ease the business permits for business players and investors in expanding their businesses in the archipelagic country.

"The government is also open to various cooperation initiatives with fellow countries," said the head of state, hoping that the collaboration between South Korean and Indonesian companies would be more and more enhanced as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country are being involved.

The groundbreaking for the electric vehicle battery factory is a follow-up to Indonesian president’s working visit to Busan, South Korea, in November 2019.

After going through a long negotiation process, the Indonesian Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Board succeeded in convincing a consortium of South Korean companies to invest in the integrated sector of mining, battery industry, smelters, refineries, cathode precursors, and battery cells for electric cars with a total investment of 9 .8 billion U.S. dollars.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Park Tae Sung, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesian Minister of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, West Java’s Karawang district head Cellica Nurrachadiana, and CEO of PT HKML Battery Indonesia William Hong.

Reporting by Indonesia Window