Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he is “confident” Tesla will finalize an investment into a production facility in his country, according to a report on Tuesday from Reuters.
President Jokowi, as he is colloquially referred to in Indonesia, also highlighted potential benefits such as tax breaks for the company or a concession to mine nickel.
“I said to him that if you invest in Indonesia, I will give the concession of nickel,” President Jokowi said.
He also added that he was “confident” Tesla would be investing in a production facility in Indonesia.
Indonesia Nearing EV Deals with Tesla and BYD, Says Minister https://t.co/OCFgwBFTEm
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) January 17, 2023
In the past, President Jokowi and Indonesian officials have attempted to get Tesla to build an EV manufacturing plant in the company, though talks have been going on for around a year.
Indonesia has the world’s richest nickel reserves, which is also a key element in building electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
In early discussions with Tesla, President Jokowi was insistent that the automaker needs to build cars in Indonesia, rather than just batteries. However, it appears he has changed his tune in recent weeks.
“If they want to start from EV battery, it’s OK,” Jokowi added.
Last April, Elon Musk met with Indonesia’s Minister for Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, to discuss battery supply chains and mines, taking place at Giga Texas.
The following month, Widodo met with Musk at SpaceX’s Starbase facility to talk about potential investments in the south east Asian nation. Widodo was visiting the United States to attend a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but made a trip out to Starbase to meet with Musk.
Just weeks ago, reports held that Tesla is finalizing a deal for an Indonesian Gigafactory, although the legitimacy of the reports are unclear.
