Not only Indonesia, Elon Musk also ‘cheated’ Thailand

Jakarta –

Tesla it is planned to invest in Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, for example by building factories. But it seems that the hope that Tesla will build a Gigafactory in this area is getting smaller.

In the latest development, Tesla has reportedly shelved its plans to build a Gigafactory in Thailand and will focus more on building charging stations.

This news was first published by The Nation media, citing Thai government sources. In addition, it is also said that Tesla will not set up a factory in Malaysia or Indonesia, and will only rely on existing factories in the US, China and Germany to meet market demand.

“They don’t process it in Malaysia, Indonesia or anywhere except China, America and Germany,” said the source, who was quoted as saying detikINET from Nation Thailand, Friday (16/8/2024).

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, also spoke out. It appeared that Minister of Investment Tengku Zafrul Aziz had received direct information about the reasons why Tesla did not intend to go big in Southeast Asia.

“Zafrul has received the latest information. This is because Tesla is suffering losses and cannot compete with electric vehicles from China. This is a direct statement that we received, not from the media,” he said, quoted by The Strait Times.

Last March, the Thai Prime Minister’s office said that Tesla was in talks with his government to build a production facility in the country. Thailand offers facilities that are 100% environmentally friendly.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Zafrul clarified that his ministry had never officially announced that Tesla would open a factory in Malaysia. He said Tesla had never announced plans to build a factory in the country.

How Thailand is cheated by Elon Musk is similar to Indonesia. As of the end of 2020, it is said that Tesla plans to invest in Indonesia but has not yet realized. In fact, the Indonesian government and Tesla have investigated serious discussions and direct meetings have taken place in the US.

In 2021, there was news that Tesla had stopped investing in Indonesia because it preferred India. However, in 2022 this was apparently rejected by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menkom Marves), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. “This morning I received a call from America, Tesla said he wanted to make a contract with us,” said Luhut in March 2022, at an event in Bali.

At that time, Luhut also expressed his annoyance with Tesla, who seemed to be pushing back and forth with Indonesia. The reason is, it is said that the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk contacted the Indonesian government 2 years earlier.

Luhut also said that potential investors can rely on Indonesia from anywhere. “Everybody wants to order. I said: Hey you can’t do this, I said to him: Today is different. We have to be the same. I said you can’t do that anymore “This country is not a banana republic. This country is a big country,” Luhut said at the time.

(fay/fay)