WANHEARTNEWS.COM - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Gen. TNI (Ret.) opened up about the plans of Elon Musk's company, namely Tesla Inc., to invest in lithium battery production in the country.
This was disclosed by Luhut at the MURI Record Submission and Closing Ceremony Business Matching Domestic Product Shopping 2022 in Nusa Bali, Thursday (24/3/2022).
"This morning I got a call from America, Tesla, saying he wanted to make a deal with us," he said.
In response to this desire, Luhut said, two years ago, Tesla's management had contacted and expressed the same intention.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at the Digital Economy Working Group G20 2022. (YouTube screenshot of Kemkominfo TV) Photo: Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at the Digital Economy Working Group G20 2022. (YouTube screenshot of Kemkominfo TV)
"Everyone wants to dictate. I said; hey you can not do this, I told him; Today is different. We have to be the same. I said you can't do that anymore. 'This country is not banana republic'. 'This country is a great country'," said Luhut.
Furthermore, he admitted to inviting Tesla to invest in the production of lithium batteries in the country. However, Luhut also said that Indonesia had an agreement with the Chinese company CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) and the South Korean company LG.
"These two now cover almost 55% of the world's lithium batteries. And in 2024 Indonesia will produce lithium batteries, from 2025 to 2026 we may be number one, number two, lithium battery production," said Luhut.
"I said fine. But I don't want you to come to a deal, don't make conditions for us. I made conditions for you because that's what I did to China. China has never given me conditions. I gave conditions, you want no, if we have to go B to B, you have to transfer technology, you have to be first class technology, you have to be environmentally friendly, he told me, okay, deal. That's what we do."
