An EV-fix for Indonesia: the green development-resource nationalist nexus

Figures & data

Table 1. EV value chain in Indonesia.

Mining & smelting	Battery chemical & materials	Battery manufacturing	EV assembly
Vale (F), Tsingshan (F), TBS Energi Utama (P), Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (F), Solway Investment (F), Eramet (F), Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry (F)	IBC* (S), Hyundai (F), Merdeka Copper Gold (P), Tsingshan (F)	Electrum (P), IBC (S), LG-led consortium (F), Indika (P)-Foxconn(F)	IBC(S), Electrum (P), Gogoro (F), Hyundai (F), Wuling (F), Bakrie (P), China’s BYD** (F)

(F): foreign companies, (S): state-owned enterprises, (P): local private firms.

*still in the form of prototype, mass production will begin next year.

**the local assembly plant is under construction.

Source: Compiled by authors from Schröder and Iwasaki (2023), Kim (2023), and other news outlets.

Table 2. Winners and losers in the context of the green developmentalism-resource nationalism nexus in Indonesia.

	International	Domestic
Winners	Chinese private and state corporations investing in smelters (e.g. Jiangsu Delong Nickel, Tsingshan Group) Coalitions of Korean chemical and auto corporations	Coal conglomerates reorganising their assets State capitalist centralising and coordinating control (IBC) Political elites
Losers	‘Western’ multinational miners (e.g. Freeport, Newmont, Newcrest) Japanese legacy automakers (Toyota)	Communities affected by mining. Environmentalists NGOs Human rights advocates

Table 3. Regulations on EV development in Indonesia.

No.	Regulation	Description	Categories of subsidies
1	Decision of Minister of Industry No. 1641 of 2023	Specifying models and types of the vehicles that meet local content requirement and are eligible for national subsidies for purchases of EVs.	Market-creating subsidies
2	Regulation of Minister of Finance No. 38 of 2023	Waiving value-added tax on handover of certain four-wheel EV and electric buses
3	Presidential Instruction No. 7 of 2022	Calling for adoption of EVs as government official vehicles
4	Ministry of Home Affairs Regulation No. 1 of 2021	Mandating sub-national governments to promote EV adoption by adjusting tax reduction rate
5	Presidential Regulation No. 79 of 2023 replacing Presidential Decree No. 55 of 2019	Adjusting local content requirements and eligibility requirements for subsidies and import taxes for EV automakers	Industrial promotion subsidies
6	Ministry of Industry Regulation No. 6 of 2022	Outlining technical specification, EV roadmap, and local content requirement guidelines as a precondition for production subsidies
7	Ministry of Industry Regulation No. 28 of 2020	Detailing various tax incentives provided for EV manufacturers

*Apart from subsidies scheme, the Indonesian government also issued technical regulations and standard process. Among others, Ministry of Transportation (MoT) Regulation No. 15 of 2022 on the conversion of other than two-wheel vehicle; MoT Regulation; MoT Regulation No. 45 of 2020 regarding safety requirement and vehicle lane and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 13 of 2020 regarding provision of electric charging station infrastructure.

Source: compiled by authors.

Schröder, M. and Iwasaki, F., 2023. From nickel to Electric cars? Indonesia’s resource cum automotive industry policy. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 1–22. doi:10.1080/13547860.2023.2231192

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Kim, K., 2023. Towards sustainable and resilient ASEAN-Korea economic integration 2.0. Asia and the Global Economy, 3 (2), 100061. doi:10.1016/j.aglobe.2023.100061

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