HANOI (AP) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Vietnamese automaker VinFast’s factory yesterday and said that he would create the necessary conditions for the multinational to be able to build a plant and invest in Indonesia quickly.
On a trip to the sprawling factory in the port city of Haiphong in northern Vietnam, Widodo also sat behind the wheel of a VinFast electric vehicle (EV) before wrapping up his three-day visit to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese EV maker has said it will invest USD1.2 billion in Indonesia and build a factory with the potential to make up to 50,000 vehicles every year. Green SM, an EV taxi operator that is mostly owned by VinFast’s founder, also announced an investment plan of USD900 million in Indonesia. It had earlier signed an agreement with Indonesian technology company PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk, the owner of Gojek transportation services, to help their taxi service switch to electric vehicles.
VinFast’s plans to expand in Indonesia are part of their global goal of selling EVs in 50 markets worldwide. It is exporting EVs to the United States and also building a USD4-billion EV factory in North Carolina, where production is slated to begin this year.
