JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Indonesia plans to build an international standard motor vehicle “proving ground” to help the automakers capture the Southeast Asian market. The transportation ministry prepared a Rp1.64 trillion (US$116.31 million) for the program within the next four years.
According to the minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, the a racetrack-like site in Bekasi, West Java, will be built with an area of 90 hectares, slated to begin in 2022 and be finished by 2024. The proving ground will test Indonesia-made motorcycles, three-wheelers, cars, buses and trucks in accordance with the international benchmark UN Regulation.
As October, Indonesian automakers exported 180,903 completely built up (CBU) vehicles, which represented a third of total vehicle productions, the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers data showed. However, the organization wants to push an exports up to one million units and domestic sales to two million units by 2025.
The organization reported car sales as of October 2020, only rose 1 percent from 48.55 units to 49,043 units. Compared to same month in 2019, the auto sales fell 49 percent from 96,128 units at that time. From January to October, the manufacturer sold 421,089 units, or down 51 percent from 10 months in 2019 period, which reached 851,222 units.
For the government, raising vehicle exports is a means of strengthening Indonesia’ trade surplus, which hit by US$17.07 billion in the first ten month of this year, according to Statistics Indonesia. The country’ main competitor for the Southeast Asian auto market is Thailand and Vietnam.
While, state-owned energy firm, PT Pertamina, accelerated the growth of the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia by prepares a commercial pilot for the use of electric vehicles with GoJek. The projects are targeted to be carried out in 2021 in the Great Jakarta areas.
Both parties has tested 25 electric motorbikes with five battery stations located in the Central Jakarta and is scheduled for completion in this month. Inline with the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem, Pertamina also develop a public electric vehicle charging station in South Jakarta, which is ready to operate at the end of December.
In October, the oil and gas producer together with other state-owned firms, PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (IDX: ANTM) and PT Perusahan Listrik Negara (PLN), has formed a new venture company called Indonesia Battery Holding. The venture firm will operates an electric vehicle battery plant.
Written by Editorial Staff, Email: theinsiderstories@gmail.com
