Chinese firm invests 2.6 billion USD in lithium battery production in Indonesia

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (Photo: Indonesia's Ministry for Maritime Affairs)

Jakarta (VNA) – Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) of China poured around 38.59 trillion IDR (2.6 billion USD) in the development of the electric vehicle battery industry of Indonesia, according to Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

The investment is poured into the construction of the largest lithium battery factory in Indonesia.

Foreign direct investment into the Southeast Asian nation continued to grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Luhut added.

He noted that the investment in electric vehicle batteries is a result of the Indonesian government's efforts to encourage manufacturing in Indonesia.

However, foreign investment sometimes faces protest from locals due to the concern that jobs might be lost to foreign workers.

The minister explained that the presence of foreign workers in these projects is only for knowledge transfer and it is actually beneficial for job creation in the future.

On the other hand, Luhut said that foreign workers are important to help Indonesia enter the world’s supply chain with downstream industries, given that until now Indonesia has not been able to meet the workers’ need for these sectors./.