Indonesia is capable of becoming a center of electric vehicles (EVs) considering that the country has abundant sources of raw materials used in EV batteries, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has said.

The government has taken several steps to attract businesses to invest in Indonesia and build factories for the EV industry, including by highlighting the nation’s enormous natural and human resources.

“We wield a very large population and abundant battery raw materials. Hopefully, many factories will be built here, so we can become the center of EVs or green economy, in general,” Hasan said after visiting an automotive factory in Bekasi District, West Java, on Tuesday.

The government’s commitment to making Indonesia an EV center has been evident in measures such as the implementation of the downstreaming policy by ending nickel ore exports.

According to the minister, the government is striving to appeal to EV business players to come and build their factories in Indonesia so that the country will no longer have to sell nickel in raw form.

“Mr. President (Joko Widodo) has decided to ban nickel ore exports, which is seen as a detrimental decision by European countries. However, this policy aims to provide us a larger gain by selling nickel as batteries, a product with a much higher value,” he affirmed.

For that reason, he said, Indonesia is exerting tremendous efforts to optimize its abundant resources with the objective of becoming a center of EVs.

However, Minister Hasan acknowledged that Indonesia is still lacking in other mineral resources, such as lithium and granite, and said it would be fruitful to cooperate with Australia to realize the EV objective.

“We have nickel, they (Australia) have lithium. We should work collectively, so we are seeking collaboration with Australia. We truly hope that Indonesia will be able to create a suitable ecosystem for green economy and EVs,” Hasan elaborated.