JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s investment minister said that Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast planned to install as many as 100,000 charging stations across the country, after President Prabowo Subianto met company representatives on Tuesday.
Minister Rosan Roeslani also said VinFast’s factory in West Java province would start operations next year, with a production capacity of 50,000 units a year. The company broke ground on the $200 million EV assembly plant last year.
VinFast did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Company executives declined to speak to the press after meeting Prabowo.
Indonesia has ambitions to become an EV manufacturing hub, trying to leverage on its rich nickel reserves, used for the manufacturing of EV batteries. The government has also been offering a range of incentives to carmakers.
Adoption of electric cars in the country has also risen in recent months as more EV makers offer affordable models. Car sales in February rose 2.2% year-on-year, the first increase since June 2023 and driven mostly by EV sales.
VinFast’s planned charging station investment could help fuel further growth, Rosan said.
“(VinFast) has selected the charging station points. For us, with EV infrastructure, adoption of electric cars can rise,” Rosan said.
The firm was also mulling investments in Indonesia’s renewable energy sector, building wind farms and solar panels, the minister said.
Prabowo’s meeting with VinFast came a day after the Indonesian president held a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam, during which both countries agreed to increase their economic cooperation.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair and Kate Mayberry)
