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.
South Korea overtakes US, Japan in FDI to Indonesia
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!
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (third left) and his entourage visit a Hyundai factory that produces the Ionic 5 electric car in Bekasi, West Java, on March 16, 2022. (AFP/Presidential Palace/Handout)
S
outh Korea has surpassed the US and Japan to become the third-largest foreign direct investor in Indonesia as two Seoul-based companies kickstarted the archipelago’s first electric vehicle (EV) battery plant.
Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia revealed that South Korean foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to US$1.3 billion in the second quarter of this year, exceeding inflows from the US and Japan at US$900 million and $800 million, respectively.
“South Korea overtook Japan; it’s normally Japan [that invests more]. This is very dynamic,” Bahlil said in a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.
The minister did not detail what specific investment had pushed up South Korea’s position but explained that Singapore and China remained in the lead with $4.6 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively.
South Korean auto manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group teamed up with LG Energy Solution (LGES) in a joint venture called PT HLI Green Power to erect Indonesia’s first EV battery plant in Karawang, West Java.
Inaugurated on July 3, the Karawang factory can produce up to 10 gigawatt-hours of battery cells a year and is meant to produce batteries for 50,000 Hyundai KONA Electric SUVs, AFP reported.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo claimed the plant was “the first and largest” in Southeast Asia.
