Local news wires are reporting the start of closer collaboration between Indonesia and Vietnam in developing electric vehicles (EVs)
In an online meeting between Chief of the Presidential Staff (KSP) Moeldoko and Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Ta Van Thong at the Bina Graha Building in Jakarta, Moeldoko is reported as saying “Indonesia and Vietnam share a very good and strong relationship, as seen by the bilateral trade between the two countries that has reached more than USD 10-billion. I hope that this strategic cooperation would continue to be strengthened in other sectors.”
Moeldoko invited Vietnam to collaborate with Indonesia to develop an electric vehicle ecosystem for both the domestic market and the Southeast Asian region, which is particularly relevant as Vietnam has become one of Southeast Asia’s most rapidly growing electric car industries.
Vietnamese automotive company VinFast plans to build a factory in North Carolina, in the US, to produce electric buses, sports vehicles, and batteries for electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Indonesia expressed its readiness to enter the era of electric vehicles as stipulated in Presidential Regulation Number 55 of 2019 on the Acceleration of the Battery-Based Electric Motor Vehicle Program for Road Transportation.
Ambassador Ta Van Thong pledged to seek to bridge the gap with Indonesian manufacturers to cooperate with Vietnam in developing electric vehicles. He also reported on a planned visit from Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son to Indonesia in July 2022. Also on the agenda of the visit is a discussion on the completion of negotiations on maritime boundaries (Exclusive Economic Zones/ EEZs) between the two countries.
Indonesia-Vietnam bilateral relations will be strengthened through a state visit by Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Indonesia around September to October 2022.
Source: Antara News, VOI
