A company from China, Hong Kong CBL Limited (CBL) is investing in Indonesia by building an electric vehicle battery factory. This project was built together with BUMN PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam).
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said this collaboration was the first in the world to cover stages from nickel mining to giga factory cell and pack batteries, as well as recycling.
“Congratulations to Antam, CBL, and IBC for their collaborative investment in the supply chain of the lithium battery ecosystem in Indonesia. This is the first in the world, covering stages from nickel mining to giga factory battery cells and packs, as well as recycling. This answering questions regarding downstreaming, where there is still a lot that can be done here,” said Luhut in a statement in Jakarta, Thursday (28/12/2023).
He emphasized the importance of efficiency and speed of project work considering increasingly tight global competition.
Luhut also stated that project execution must continue to comply with high environmental and labor standards.
“We must be transparent with digitalization, and the execution of this project must be a standard example for similar projects in the future,” he added.
Luhut is open to criticism regarding environmental issues and is committed to making improvements, including improving mechanisms and standard operating procedures (SOP). He also emphasized training local employees to keep up with high technology.
“We must pay attention to high quality environmental and employment standards in stages. Let’s build an agreement that the officials involved must be transparent, so that Indonesia can become an example of a developed and transparent country,” stressed Luhut.
On the same occasion, the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia emphasized the need to implement environmental and labor standards as stated by Luhut.
“Congratulations to the Antam and CBL teams. Well implement environmental standards, recruit workers, and try to minimize risks that could be detrimental,” said Bahlil. [Intermediate]