Photo: KompasTV
Elon Musk spoke virtually at Indonesia’s B20 Summit conference over the weekend, discussing themes ranging from nickel to Twitter TV and more, as can be seen in a YouTube video from KompasTV.
Musk previously agreed to speak at the conference after meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo over discussions about mining nickel for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
The interview at the conference was moderated by PT Bakrie and Brothers CEO and President Anindya Bakrie. He began the discussion by noting that the Indonesian shirt sent to Musk was from a small area in Central Sulawesi that has “a lot of nickel,” where the country is planning a net zero industrial park with clean energy.
Bakrie asked Musk what the future looked like for developing countries that are already in the G20, such as Indonesia and others like Brazil and India.
“I think Indonesia has an incredibly exciting and bright future, because there’s just so much youth and energy,” Musk said. “I think a lot of people around the world don’t realize that Indonesia has one of the highest populations of any country. So I think with the combination of the youth energy, large population, and a lot of resources, I think the future is extremely exciting for Indonesia.”
“I guess I’m bullish on Indonesia. I think it has a very exciting and bright future,” Musk added
The discussion comes after Indonesian President, colloquially referred to as Jokowi in the country, told Musk that the country wants Tesla to build a battery and electric vehicle plant in Indonesia, rather than just mining for nickel or making batteries there.
You can watch Elon Musk’s interview with Bakrie below, beginning around 01:25:00. Interestingly enough, Musk says he ran into a power outage prior to joining the teleconference, and was later lit up by candlelight only:
