Academia
Indonesia’s vast nickel wealth won’t save its green industrial ambitions if volatile regulations and a severe high-tech skills deficit keep driving global EV giants straight into the arms of Vietnam.
A Vinfast car drives past the entrance of the VinFast electric automobile plant in Haiphong on Aug. 26, 2022. Having conquered most industries at home, optimistic chiefs at conglomerate Vingroup are setting their sights much higher as they ramp up plans to sell the first ever Vietnamese car in the mighty United States market.
(AFP/Nhac Nguyen)
When news broke that electric vehicle manufacturers originally planning to operate in Indonesia had instead chosen Vietnam, it forced a critical question: What is going wrong in Southeast Asia's largest economy? The situation is ironic. Indonesia holds the world’s largest nickel reserves, yet its domestic EV manufacturing industry is struggling to take root.The fundamental causes of this failure extend far beyond simple investment metrics; they lie in the structural quality of state policy, human capital development, institutional education and state support for foundational research and technology. Together, these elements form the indispensable building blocks of a healthy, green industrial ecosystem.
