TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Luhut to pitch nickel projects to Elon Musk
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan says he plans to invite Tesla CEO Elon Musk to invest in Indonesia’s nickel industry when he meets the US business magnate next month.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Nickel smelters are pictured at the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Lelilef, North Maluku, on July 7, 2024. (AFP/Azzam Risqullah)
C
oordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan says he plans to invite Tesla CEO Elon Musk to invest in Indonesia’s nickel industry when he meets the United States business magnate in the US next month.
He did not elaborate on the proposed projects but said that, at the moment, there was no commitment from US electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla to build an EV factory in Indonesia. He went on to say that Tesla “has no plans to build EV plants anywhere in the world in the next two years”, Katadata reported.
“I plan on offering him [nickel development projects]; we will discuss this first. It is too early to say anything about it now,” he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Katadata.
Read also: Tesla to sign investment deal in Indonesia within months: Luhut
Jakarta has been wooing Tesla since 2020 to invest in the country's EV and EV battery manufacturing industry, seeking to leverage Indonesia’s rich reserves of nickel ore for use in domestic battery production. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with Musk in Texas in 2022 at the facility of SpaceX, another company led by Musk.
The amount of nickel used by Tesla in 2023 was up a third over the preceding year, but only 13 percent of its supply came from Indonesia. However, Tesla’s 2023 impact report mentioned Indonesia 18 times and noted the country’s importance for nickel industries.
Read also: Southeast Asian lawmakers urge govt, region to consider nickel mining impacts
