Creating Employment for 35,000 People, Local Contractors Involved in Indonesia’s Integrated EV Battery Project

Jakarta, 6 July 2025 – GAPENSI, or the National Construction Services Association, appreciates the move by the MIND ID Group, which proactively involved local contractors in the national electric vehicle (EV) battery industry ecosystem development in Indonesia.

The involvement of local contractors is in line with the spirit of the government in creating economic equality through the increased absorption of local workers in the regions.

MIND ID, or Mining Industry Indonesia, the Holding State-Owned Enterprise for the Mining Industry, as the first EV battery industry ecosystem integrator in Asia, recently inaugurated six integrated projects worth USD 5.9 billion.

This project is the result of cross-entity collaboration within the MIND ID Group Members, namely PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTAM), Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), and the Consortium of CATL, Brunp, and Lygend (CBL). The project covers the upstream as well as downstream sectors of the EV battery industry, located at the FHT Region of East Halmahera and Artha Industrial Hills (AIH), Karawang.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) estimates the project will absorb about 8,000 direct workers and create indirect job opportunities for about 35,000 people, and is capable of becoming the regional economic driver.

GAPENSI Secretary General, La Ode Safiul Akbar, stressed the importance of national contractor involvement in the EV battery industry ecosystem national project.

He believes that the strategic project will strengthen the national economy even more with the involvement of local entrepreneurs and contractors.  This is the tangible form of the efforts to ensure that national projects benefit the Indonesian people as much as possible.

“So far, many large investment projects, particularly those with foreign partners, have minimal involvement of national contractors. Yet our involvement is very important to ensure that the economic impact of the project can be felt extensively, especially in the regions,” he stressed.

He further added that the involvement of local construction players will strengthen the competitiveness of domestic industries even more.

GAPENSI hopes that the MIND ID Group can become a pioneer in opening wider opportunities for national contractors, in the construction phase as well as in developing supporting infrastructure.

Previously, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, stated that the multiplier effect of economic growth has reached about US$40 billion per year, and will continuously increase in line with the demand for EV batteries each year. 

 With such economic growth, Bahlil said that companies involved in implementing the downstream program will consistently strengthen the added value for the central economy while at the same time, developing the regional economy.

“Fair for regional entrepreneurs, fair also for the public, and fair also for the regional government. Not all is taken to Jakarta,” said Bahlil.