Indonesia has received a US$1.3 billion (roughly Rp 19.45 trillion) investment proposal for the country’s electric vehicle industry, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told the press recently. 

During a groundbreaking event for a copper foil factory in Gresik, East Java, Mr. Luhut said on Tuesday, June 20, that the investment proposal was for the development of factories and a distribution network and that it came from one of the world's most famous electric car manufacturers. 

He said the proposal would be beneficial for Indonesia as the company’s product lineup was “compatible” with Indonesian buyers, though he declined to reveal the identity of the company. 

"This will be a game changer because the electric car that they produce matches Indonesians' taste at an affordable price," Mr. Luhut, said as quoted by Antara News. 

Mr. Luhut said the company was interested in securing Indonesia’s supply of copper – one of the main raw materials used in electric car manufacturing. 

A single electric car requires 56 kilograms of copper, excluding the copper needed to manufacture the electric car’s battery. Against this backdrop, Mr. Luhut emphasized the importance of expanding Indonesia’s copper downstreaming capacity through the construction of copper processing factories. 

“Indonesia has the capital to become an important player in the electric car industry given its large copper reserves and [in terms of] regulations mandating entrepreneurs to create copper smelters. This will be an important capital in attracting investment to the Indonesian electric car [industry],” he added. 

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), last year, stated that it was aiming to have more than 2.1 million electric cars on Indonesian roads by 2030.  

Equipped with the world's largest reserve of nickel and supported by a zero-export policy for raw nickel ores, Indonesia has risen to become the world’s largest supplier of processed nickel – an integral component of electric vehicles. Just within the last three years, Indonesia has inked more than a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion with manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor, LG Group, and Foxconn, for the development of the country's electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem.