Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – Australia's Minister of Industry and Science Ed Husic visited the office of Indonesia's Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. Luhut said that the meeting discussed the plan to boost the synergy in developing electric vehicle batteries.
"With this strategic position as neighboring countries, we will continue to communicate and consider some policies," said Luhut in his Instagram on Monday, July 24, 2023.
He stressed that the policies have to be relevant to Indonesia's commitment to its responsibility toward the environment. Luhut also believed the cooperation will contribute greatly toward the global battery and mineral supply chain. According to Luhut, the visit from Ed Husic was the impact of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's visit to Australia a few weeks ago. He believed that Jokowi's effort has been received very well.
Luhut revealed that he agreed with Jokowi concerning cooperation with Australia and that this will be a significant step toward promoting low-emission transportation in the future. Indonesia has rich nickel reserves while Australia is the world's biggest lithium producer.
Referring to Climate Energy Finance 2023, unprocessed Lithium reserves in Australia were 46% in 2021 and rose to 79% in 2023. Meanwhile, the lithium export value in 2023 rose 15 times to US$16 billion. Additionally, in Australia's Progress on the Energy Transition 2023, Australia is currently strengthening electric decarbonization significantly for 2030. "It is in line with Indonesia's vision to reach zero emission target in 2060," Luhut added.
Previously, Jokowi met the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese in Admiralty House, Sydney, on Tuesday, June 4, 2023. Electric vehicles were one of the key agenda in the meeting.
Jokowi believed that Indonesia has to build more substantive cooperation with Australia through the development of electric vehicle batteries. He also offered Australia to invest in the electric vehicle battery industry. The measure was taken as a strategy to accelerate the domestic electric vehicle ecosystem. The government is targeting the production of 600,000 units of electric cars and 2.45 million electric motorcycles in 2023. According to Jokowi, this will boost Indonesia's economic growth.