President Prabowo Leads Limited Meeting on EV Battery Downstream Project

President Prabowo Subianto leads a limited meeting with several ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (05/22). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto chaired a limited meeting with several ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (05/22) to discuss the continuation of the electric vehicle battery downstream project.

The discussion focused particularly on the investment transition from the LG consortium to Huayou, as well as the progress of a similar project with CATL.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia explained that the President has approved the continuation of the battery downstream project worth US$9.8 billion, which was previously managed by LG and is now being continued by Huayou.

“Alhamdulillah, it has been decided and approved by the President. Following the President’s directive, the project is now being continued by the Huayou consortium. There are no more issues, and the groundbreaking is ready to proceed,” Bahlil said to the media after the meeting.

He also conveyed that the project’s ownership structure put Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) as the majority shareholders in the upstream sector, while emphasizing that the narrative regarding LG’s exit from the project is incorrect.

“I want to clarify that this is not true. The fact is that I, as the Task Force Chairman at that time, decided to cancel LG’s involvement due to prolonged delays. Then, together with Mr. Rosan and Mr. Erick, we held meetings to find a replacement, which turned out to be Huayou. This is the fact,” Bahlil explained.

The meeting also reviewed the progress of the cooperation project with the Chinese battery company CATL. Minister of Investment and Downstream/Head of BKPM and Danantara, Rosan Roeslani, highlighted the importance of Danantara’s involvement to strengthen Indonesia’s position in the project.

“In the past, there may have been funding challenges. But since Danantara’s involvement, we have been assisting the funding because we see this project as very promising. It offers good returns, creates jobs, and has significant economic impact for Indonesia’s future,” Rosan said.

Through the involvement of two giant consortium—Huayou and CATL—who will manage the ecosystem from mining to battery production, the Government expects Indonesia can fully control the value chain of the electric vehicle industry.

“So, the whole ecosystem from mining to battery production will take place within Indonesia, we call it green package—a single ecosystem involving both the agreements with Huayou and CATL,” Rosan remarked. (BPMI) (EST/LW)