Elon Musk considers Indonesian offer to build electric vehicle battery factory and SpaceX launch pad

Indonesia’s coordinating investment minister said Elon Musk would consider a bid to build an electric vehicle battery factory in the country, after the Tesla CEO met with President Joko Widodo on Monday.

Musk was not immediately available for comment after Minister Luhut Pandjaitan made his remarks to reporters.

Musk and Widodo met in Bali, Indonesia, after both attended the World Water Forum on Monday. “We made an offer: is it possible to build a precursor cathode battery factory for electric vehicles here. And he will look at it,” Luhut told reporters.

Luhut said Widodo also asked Musk to consider investing in an AI center in the Southeast Asian country and for SpaceX to build a launch pad on the island of Biak in the Indonesian province of Papua, an offer the government has already made.

The Indonesian government has been trying for years to get Tesla to build electric vehicle-related manufacturing plants, as it wants to expand its electric vehicle sector using the country’s rich nickel resources.

On Sunday, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service for Indonesia’s healthcare sector.

Starlink was now commercially available, but the government would first focus its services on outlying and underdeveloped regions.

SpaceX’s Starlink, which owns about 60% of the approximately 7,500 satellites orbiting Earth, dominates the satellite internet industry.