Tesla, Ford Said To Be In Talks With Indonesia To Set Up Local Plants

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has been in talks with Tesla Inc TSLA, Ford Motor Co F and other carmakers to set up manufacturing facilities in the Southeast Asian country, CNBC reported, citing Widodo.

What happened: Widodo said his government is open to all players and wants them to use the country’s plentiful natural resources, as per the report.

Indonesia is rich with natural deposits of tin, copper, nickel, cobalt and bauxite, some of which are key materials for electric vehicle batteries. 

In 2020, however, the country banned the export of key commodities, including unprocessed nickel.

“No, I think it’s not protectionism. But we want that added value to be in Indonesia ... If we keep exporting the raw materials, the ones who get the added value are other countries,” Widodo said in an interview with CNBC. 

See Also: Tesla Gets Indonesia Invite To Set Up Massive EV Factory

Talks With Tesla: Widodo said he met Tesla CEO Elon Musk in May after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a summit for Southeast Asian leaders, CNBC reported.

He said he had invited Tesla to base its entire supply chain in the country and also talked with Musk about how the EV maker could build its industry from “upstream to downstream, end-to-end," according to the report.

“Everything in Indonesia, because that’s very efficient. That’s what I offered,” Widodo was quoted as saying.

Widodo reportedly said there was no decision yet on Tesla’s plans to invest in Indonesia but expects a team from the company to visit and “check the potential of nickel” in the “near future” to evaluate the potential. 

See Also: Tesla Gets Invite From Malaysia PM To Set Up Factory

Price Action: Tesla closed 1.7% higher at $650.3 on Friday.