Japanese carmaker Toyota has planned to invest $1.8 billion in Indonesia in the next five years to make the country a regional manufacturing hub for its electric vehicles.

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said this on Wednesday.

According to him, the vice chairperson of Toyota’s board of directors, Shigeru Hayakawa, made the commitment during a meeting with an Indonesian ministerial delegation on Tuesday in Tokyo.

“I believe that the demand for electric vehicles in Indonesia and the ASEAN Association of South-east Asian Nations region in the future will continue to increase.

“Indonesia can be used as a manufacturing base for electric vehicles to be marketed in the ASEAN region,” Mr Airlangga said.

The statement said Toyota also planned to introduce several types of hybrid electric vehicles in the next four years.

“We hope that with this increase in investment in Indonesia, the Indonesian government will understand our seriousness in making electric vehicles,” Mr Hayakawa was quoted as saying.

Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel producer, a key component of batteries used in electric vehicles, wants to be a regional manufacturing hub for battery-powered cars.

This year, South Korean carmaker Hyundai launched the Ioniq 5, the first electric vehicle produced at its new plant near Jakarta.

(dpa/NAN)