Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto revealed that Toyota Motor Company will increase its investment in Indonesia by $1.80 billion. This investment is for the development of electric vehicles.
The investment commitment was conveyed by the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Toyota Motor Corporation Shigeru Hayakawa in a meeting with Airlangga in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday (26/7/2022).
“I believe that the demand for electric vehicles, both four-wheeled and two-wheeled in Indonesia and in the ASEAN region in the future, will continue to increase. Indonesia can be used as an industrial base for electric vehicle (EV) production to be marketed in the ASEAN region and in Indonesia itself,” Airlangga said in a statement. his statement, Wednesday (27/7/2022).
Toyota can also contribute to reducing emissions and reducing imports of fossil fuels by popularizing the use of electric vehicles (EV) in Indonesia. According to Airlangga, Toyota said that plans to add several types of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) vehicles have been included in the pipeline for the next 4 years.
Akio Toyoda, who is the President of Toyota Motor Corporation, pledged an investment commitment in Indonesia to President Joko Widodo at the Osaka Summit meeting in 2019. Within 3 years, Toyota’s investment has reached $933 million.
At a meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Airlangga, Shigeru Hayakawa also stated that he would add an investment of $1.80 billion over the next 5 years.
“We hope that with this increase in investment in Indonesia, the Indonesian government will understand our seriousness towards the electrification of motorized vehicles,” said Hayakawa.
In addition to providing investment commitments, this meeting also discussed the upskilling of engineer capabilities in Indonesia. Toyota has built the xEV Center in May 2022 to improve the capabilities and expertise of local human resources (HR) related to electrification and readiness in the digitalization era.
In collaboration with Pertamina and Inalum, Toyota has been trying to build the battery industry in Indonesia by increasing the expertise of local engineers. Toyota Indonesia continues to strive to develop local human resources, including the next generation of technology for mobility, which is represented by electrification.
To prepare the future skills of the Indonesian people towards the era of electrification and digitalization, Toyota Indonesia is also developing the xEV Center as an “Electrification Learning Facility” and to support the Indonesia Digital Industry Center 4.0 (PIDI 4.0) initiated by the Ministry of Industry towards IR4.0
Toyota Indonesia together with technicians from Indonesia also developed the Kijang Innova BEV concept to study technology and conditions in order to prepare for more tangible use by people in Indonesia.
As for closing the meeting, Airlangga said that he would involve electric vehicles produced by Toyota in the G20 event in November 2022 for the delegates.
