Elon Musk meets Indonesian president, gets EV battery plant proposal

ANKARA

Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Monday met Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the World Water Forum being held on the resort island of Bali.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan the coordinating minister of maritime and investment affairs, told reporters after the meeting that Jakarta has proposed building an electric vehicle battery plant to Musk.

“We made an offer, is it possible to build an EV battery factory, precursor to cathodes, here. And he said he will consider it," Luhut said.

Jokowi has long tried to get Musk to invest in Indonesia, touting the country’s nickel industry.

Indonesia has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, a key material for both stainless steel and some kinds of EV batteries.

Separately, Musk spoke at the 10th World Water Forum, trying to dispel doubts about the world being unable to get out of the water crisis, saying that the process of turning seawater drinkable has become cheaper, the local daily Jakarta Globe reported.

According to Musk, desalination – the process of removing salt from seawater – can be a solution to water shortages, as the desalinated water becomes usable for human consumption or irrigation.

“Desalination – as most people know – has become very inexpensive. The availability of fresh water is simply about (a matter of) energy and transport. When I talk to the very well-read, very smart people in the US, they will often think that the water crisis is unsolvable, but in fact, it is very solvable,” he added.

Musk arrived in Indonesia on Sunday morning and launched the Starlink internet service in the Southeast Asian country.