Indonesia calls for Vietnamese investment in electric car industry

Indonesian Minister of Trade Zukifli Hasan has called on Vietnamese enterprises to pay attention to his country’s electric car industry, make investments and form partnerships with Indonesian businesses.

He made the call on the eve of the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting held on Saturday in Semarang, Indonesia, during a meeting with Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

Hasan noted that some Vietnamese businesses have opened car factories in the U.S. Therefore, they can add to the foreign automakers, including those from China, South Korea and Japan, who have invested in producing electric vehicles in Indonesia.

The Indonesian minister also suggested that Vietnam considers and soon resumes exchange visits of delegations, cooperation mechanisms and annual forums between the trade ministries of both countries. Such activities have been suspended for many years.

The Vietnamese minister praised and welcomed Hasan's suggestion to quickly reopen communication channels, information sharing and yearly forums between the two ministries. The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic has caused the suspension for two years or so, he noted.

Dien also affirmed that the aforementioned activities were of crucial importance and that the two parties need to quickly discuss and update information on the current status to address any lingering issues that may have arisen in bilateral trade cooperation.

He said Vietnam was aware that Indonesia has an abundance of nickel resources, while Vietnam was one of the countries with the largest rare earth resources in the world. Therefore, both countries could work together to develop the electric car industry in the near future.

Dien requested his Indonesian counterpart to create advantageous conditions for Vietnam to import Indonesian coal and crude palm oil. He also wanted Indonesia to reconsider the imposition of protectionist measures and trade obstacles on Vietnamese goods.

Minister Dien stressed that Vietnam has always treated Indonesian entrepreneurs fairly and created favorable conditions for them to do business in the country.

Hassan acknowledged this and stated that the Indonesian side will study the Vietnamese side's recommendations.

Bilateral trade turnover between the two countries has nearly tripled from $4.87 billion in 2013 to $14.16 billion in 2022. Bilateral trade turnover reached $6.73 billion in the first six months of 2023, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.