Indonesia’s Jokowi hails ‘positive developments’ with Australia’s Albanese after EV battery, climate, visa deals

Indonesia and Australia signed deals to collaborate on mining key minerals – lithium and nickel – used for the production of electric vehicle batteries

Australia also relaxed the rules for Indonesian travellers, extending the duration of business visas for Indonesians to 5 years

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo agreed on a series of green investment deals. Photo: Pool/dpa

Published: 7:24pm, 4 Jul 2023Updated: 7:38pm, 4 Jul 2023

Indonesia is inching closer to its goal of becoming a regional manufacturing hub for EV batteries, with the country set to deepen its cooperation with Australia in mining key minerals.

The move is among a series of pacts agreed between Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Joko Widodo, who arrived in Sydney on Monday for a three-day trip in what was likely his last visit as leader of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Widodo is barred from running again after his second five-year term expires next year.

“There is a lot that Australia can offer Indonesia … including the global move towards electric vehicles (EVs). We are rich in all the components and the expertise needed for renewable energy,” Albanese said on Tuesday during a joint news briefing.

The move comes after the local government of Western Australia and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry agreed in February to form a key mineral supply chain partnership to attract investment from both sides.

Widodo has previously targeted increasing imports of lithium, a key component in EV battery production, from Australia. The state of Western Australia accounts for half of the world’s lithium production, while Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves, another key element in EV batteries, at 21 million metric tons, according to the US Geological Survey.

The president viewed the move as one of the “many positive developments” in the bilateral relationship. “Indonesia and Australia must build a more substantive and strategic economic cooperation through the joint production of EV batteries,” Widodo said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Admiralty House in Sydney. Photo: Pool/dpa

Aside from increasing collaboration on nickel and lithium mining, the two leaders also sought to boost cooperation in climate and infrastructure, with Albanese announcing a A$50 million (US$33.4 million) fund to unlock investments into Indonesian small and medium-sized enterprises that were focused on climate and clean energy.

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Indonesia’s Jokowi hails ‘positive developments’ with Australia’s Albanese after EV battery, climate, visa deals

Indonesia and Australia signed deals to collaborate on mining key minerals – lithium and nickel – used for the production of electric vehicle batteries Australia also relaxed the rules for Indonesian travellers, extending the duration of business visas for Indonesians to 5 years

Indonesia and Australia signed deals to collaborate on mining key minerals – lithium and nickel – used for the production of electric vehicle batteries

Australia also relaxed the rules for Indonesian travellers, extending the duration of business visas for Indonesians to 5 years