Taiwan’s Foxconn, Indonesia’s Indika Look for Thai Firm in EV Partnership
- November 17, 2022
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Manufacturing
Indonesian coal miner PT Indika Energy and Taiwanese technology firm Foxconn, which have previously announced a partnership in making electric vehicles (EVs) in Indonesia, are looking for a Thai firm as a third partner. President Director of Indika, Rasjid said the three company partnership will focus on investing in EV or EV battery production, but did not single out any company from Thailand due to ongoing negotiations. “We know the strongest automotive strongholds in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are Indonesia and Thailand … instead of competing, why don’t we complement,” he said.
Indika and Foxconn launched their $2 billion joint venture in September, with a focus on making EVs, batteries and energy storage in Indonesia.
Arsjad said the venture would likely focus on manufacturing electric buses in its initial production and may later move to make electric trucks.
Foxconn, known as Apple’s biggest iPhone assembler, also has a $1 billion joint venture with Thai energy group PTT to produce battery EVs.
Indika has also recently acquired local metal firm PT Perkasa Investama Mineral, which has a bauxite mining business, to secure materials for battery production. The company is looking to buy other bauxite or nickel mines as well.
Like many other energy companies, Indika wants to diversify its business to reduce exposure to coal – the most polluting fossil fuel – to reach a target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Indika is one of the top coal miners in Indonesia, which is the world’s biggest coal exporter.
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