JAKARTA -- Indonesia has an ambitious plan: to establish itself as a major player in the global supply chain for electric vehicles. In five years, the archipelago wants to have an integrated industry encompassing everything from upstream development -- mining raw materials for use in EV batteries -- to downstream -- the manufacturing of batteries and the vehicles themselves.
The $17 billion plan is designed to position Indonesia, a major nickel producer, as a vital cog in the global EV market going forward, as demand for electrified vehicles is set to grow, with more and more countries looking to ban the sale of gasoline cars in the near future.