Prabowo inaugurates groundbreaking CATL-backed EV battery project in Indonesia

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated the groundbreaking of a China-supported integrated electric vehicle battery project in North Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia in a livestreamed ceremony held in the West Java industrial estate of Karawang on June 29.

Jointly owned by China's battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd and Indonesia's state mining firm Aneka Tambang (Antam) and Indonesia Battery Corporation, the project comprises nickel mining, nickel smelting, nickel precursor and cathode making, and battery cell production.

The $6 billion project is one of the first and the largest of its kind in the world and which Prabowo called in his speech on Sunday as a "historic and colossal" enterprise.

"Today's groundbreaking is proof of the seriousness of the leaders (of our two countries) … in our cooperation with our partner, our friend," Prabowo said in his speech.

"This program, in my view, is a colossal and an extraordinary breakthrough," the president said. It is the largest of its kind in Asia, he added.

Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong and Vice-Chairman of CATL Li Ping attended the ceremony in Karawang, which is one of Indonesia's largest industrial estates. Joining them were Prabowo's cabinet ministers as well as Chinese and Indonesian business leaders.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung in East Halmahera Regency, where the project is located, represented the central government in the livestreamed ceremony. He was accompanied by North Maluku Governor Shery Tjoanda.

Indonesia, which has one of the world's highest nickel resources, is seeking to become a major player in the global EV battery supply chain and a leading EV production hub in Southeast Asia.

The country has a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060, notably by decarbonizing its transportation sector.

Governor Tjoanda said in her speech that the integrated EV battery project would help improve the welfare of the local people, and is hopeful that the central government would also do more to develop and improve roads and irrigation systems in North Maluku, which has abundant nickel resources along with Central Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.

Bahlil Lahadalia, minister of energy and mineral resources, said the government highly appreciated CATL's support for the East Halmahera project. He said Indonesia is rich in nickel, manganese and cobalt, and admitted that the country has less lithium resources.

Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform and a noted analyst on electric vehicle industry, said Indonesia needs to cooperate with China in the EV battery industry as the latter currently dominates battery technologies.

"Cooperation with China is an appropriate choice. Many other countries do the same," Tumiwa told China Daily when commenting on the Halmahera project.

Moreover, "our two countries uphold the principle 'shared prosperity'," he said.

Sawidji Widoatmodjo, dean of economics at Jakarta's Tarumanegara University, said the integrated EV battery project in Maluku is an extraordinary achievement.

He said the project will greatly help develop equality in national economic development as North Maluku is one of the 10 poorest provinces in Indonesia.

"And I should say Indonesia must be able to capitalize the gains of nickel projects and invest it in other industries that are not based on natural resources extraction," Widoatmodjo told China Daily.