VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan wants Indonesia to become an investment destination for electric vehicles so it can build the economy in Making Indonesia 4.0.

In his presentation, while attending Indika Energy's 20th anniversary at the INDY Fest 2020, Monday (19/10), Luhut said that before the pandemic many countries invested in China. But now, some of them are looking for other countries to divert their investment.

Indonesia, he said in a statement in Jakarta, Tuesday, is one of the countries that investors are starting to look at to move their industries.

"We need to transform our economic activities to make Making Indonesia 4.0 so we can take advantage of this situation by showing that we are competitive and able to compete globally," he said.

Luhut also emphasized the importance of economic transformation in the Making Indonesia 4.0 era in Indonesia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are experiencing a very rapid change in the geopolitical landscape. This change is marked by a change in the world due to technology and quick globalization, then there is increasing geopolitical tension in various countries, especially between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the context of a trade war. Not to mention that we are also facing COVID-19 which is increasingly speeding up changes in the world's geopolitical landscape," he explained.

According to Luhut, one of the sectors that can be utilized and developed is the automotive sector, especially the electric vehicle (EV).

"One of the sectors developed in Making Indonesia 4.0 in Indonesia is the automotive sector, especially Electric Vehicles (EV). Indonesia has abundant resources in making EVs, namely nickel, aluminum, and copper. These three types of resources can be integrated to create a downstream industry that is competitive in the realm of global competition," said Coordinating Minister Luhut.

Luhut said that currently world car and battery manufacturers are competing to find investment destinations for their production facilities.

Under the Global Battery Alliance, increasing production of electric vehicles could result in the creation of 10 million jobs, and an economic value of around US $150 billion as they contribute to progress related to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

"If all or most of the related supply chains can be produced in Indonesia, then Indonesia can become a global key player in this future industry," he said.

Luhut reminded that Making Indonesia 4.0 could run if the industry could collaborate with universities in developing reliable human resources.

"Parties in the industrial ecosystem that we want to build, such as labor associations, industry associations, NGOs, companies, together with educational institutions, need to work well together. This cooperation will later be able to realize what we aspire to, in the form of development in the automotive sector, to realize Making Indonesia 4.0 in Indonesia," he concluded. (Antaranews)