Electric vehicle battery supply chain important market… painstaking localization
▲From left, Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Kwang-mo Koo, chairman of LG Group, and Dong-bin Shin, chairman of Lotte Group
In Indonesia, a country with a large population and rich in resources, business leaders inspected each company’s new growth engine business and sought new business opportunities.
According to the business world on the 7th, Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Kwang-mo Koo, chairman of LG Group, Dong-bin Shin, chairman of Lotte Group, and Ja-eun Koo, chairman of LS Group, attended the ‘Korea-Indonesia Business Round Table’ held in Jakarta in the afternoon to coincide with President Yoon Seok-yeol’s visit to Indonesia.
About 20 CEOs, including these heads, met with major Indonesian businessmen and discussed ways to cooperate, such as signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Indonesia’s population is 277 million, the fourth largest after India, China and the United States. The average age is 29.9 years old. Recently, the capital is being moved from Jakarta to Nusantara, which is likely to open up a huge infrastructure market.
Indonesia is regarded as a strategic point to escape from China because of its abundant deposits of nickel and cobalt, which are key materials for electric vehicle batteries. It is an attractive place for Hyundai Motor Group and LG Group, which are fostering electric vehicles and batteries as future food sources.
Through this visit, Chairman Chung will check the situation in the Indonesian market, which is a forward base for expanding the influence of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and further solidify the partnership.
After taking office in October 2020, Chung visited Indonesia three times and met with President Joko Widodo. In March of last year, Hyundai Motor Group spent 2.5 trillion won to build the first electric vehicle production plant on a 777,000 square meter site in the Deltamas Industrial Complex in Bekasi, Indonesia. A battery cell joint venture jointly operated by LG Energy Solutions is also under construction on a 330,000 square meter site in Karawang, Indonesia.
Chairman Koo is expected to lay the groundwork for the expansion of new businesses based on the relationship that LG Group has had with Indonesia for over 30 years.
LG Group first entered Indonesia in 1990 when LG Electronics established a joint venture to produce TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. Currently, there are 8 subsidiaries and 4 production plants in operation.
“Indonesia is an important country for LG Group to maintain a close cooperative relationship with for the growth of its battery business,” said an official from the business world.
The Southeast Asian market is also very important to Lotte Group Chairman Shin, who withdrew his distribution and petrochemical businesses from China.
Lotte Chemical is carrying out the ‘Line Project’ to create a large-scale petrochemical complex by investing 5.16 trillion won by 2025 in Cilegon, Indonesia. Lotte Mart and Lotte Department Store are also strengthening their distribution business by entering the local market.
An executive of a conglomerate said, “As Indonesia is a necessary place to capture the Southeast Asian region, which is a new market, business leaders are stepping up and strengthening their networks with local political and business figures.”
