Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan stressed that foreign companies that want to invest in Indonesia cannot dictate to the government, including Tesla.
Luhut revealed that the electric car manufacturer from the US had recently expressed interest in investing in Indonesia. The interest was conveyed by telephone.
Two years ago, Tesla had expressed interest in building electric car batteries, but canceled. It turned out, said Luhut, that the plan could not be realized because the company was too dictating to the government.
This time, Luhut emphasized that Indonesia is not a banana republic. As a note, Oxford Dictionary defines the banana republic as a poor country with a weak government and dependent on foreign capital flows.
“I said, ‘Hey you, two years ago, you called me to make a lithium battery.’ You all want to dictate, I said, ‘Hey you cannot do this. Today is different. We have to be the same’. I said, ‘You can’t do that anymore. This country is not banana republic! This country is a great country!” said Luhut at the Closing Ceremony Business Matching Domestic Product Shopping 2022 in Bali, Thursday (24/3) as quoted from Antara.
This means that Tesla must comply with government requirements, not the other way around. The same applies to other foreign companies that wish to invest in Indonesia.
“China has never given me conditions, I (who) gave conditions. Do you want it if we have to go B to B? It must transfer technology, it must be first class technology, it must be environmentally friendly. He said he could, (so), okay deal ,” he added
Luhut explained that currently Indonesia already has business agreements with electric vehicle battery companies from China and South Korea, namely CATL and LG. The cooperation is believed to be able to make Indonesia become more involved in the lithium battery market in the world. The target is for Indonesia to start producing lithium batteries in 2024.
(sfr)
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