Indonesia plans to launch investment incentives for electric vehicles, which are being discussed with BYD, Tesla and other car companies.
CTOnews.com, July 25 (Xinhua)-- Indonesia is finalizing a new set of incentives to attract investment from electric vehicle manufacturers, Indonesian Ocean and Investment Co-ordination Minister Ruhut Pandjaitan (Luhut Pandjaitan) said today, according to Reuters.
He added that the government is in talks with big companies such as Tesla and BYD. Indonesia's incentives are said to be based on those offered by Thailand and Vietnam, but did not provide details.
"tomorrow we will finalize the incentives we will give to any EV investment in Indonesia," Luhut said, adding that they were waiting for approval from President Joko Widodo.
Luhut added that he will meet BYD executives in Chengdu, China on Thursday and plans to meet with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in California on Aug. 3.
Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has been trying to attract major electric carmakers to invest in the country on the condition that it has the world's richest nickel reserves, but it is now mainly traditional car companies.
According to previous reports from CTOnews.com, most automakers, such as China's BYD, prefer to invest in Southeast Asian car centers such as Thailand, Vietnam and even India.
Indonesia has been attracting investment from Tesla for years, hoping to make it the global carmaker's production hub in Asia. There have also been reports that Tesla is in talks with Indian officials on investment in the plant, but progress has been slow.
