By Nurul Ramadhani
JAKARTA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is pushing electric vehicles (EVs) adoption as an effort to provide cleaner air and accelerate green energy transition from imposing special import duty to building more charging stations.
The country's Ministry of Finance decided Tuesday to set a special tariff of zero percent import duty for four-wheeled EVs, as long as the vehicles are imported in incomplete conditions.
The incentive is applicable for battery-based EVs, such as semi-trailer road tractors and vehicles that can carry 10 or more passengers, according to the ministry.
"This incentive will reduce production costs and, thus, is expected to boost the investment in the EV industry in Indonesia. The vehicles will also be more affordable for the citizens because the industry is required to use local spare parts," the ministry's head of the Fiscal Policy Agency, Febrio Kacaribu, said in a written statement released on Tuesday.
Kacaribu said that pushing the EVs industry is part of the Indonesian government to reduce gas emissions by 29 percent by 2030 and achieve zero carbon emission by 2060.
The commitment is also in line with one of the three priorities for 2022 agreed during the G20 finance leaders' meeting in Jakarta, in particular the energy transition initiative.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said last Wednesday that the country targeted more than 2 million electric vehicles including electric motorcycles on the roads by 2025, adding that in 2030 the Southeast Asian country expects to be able to enter the EV export market.
The effort is also shown by building more EV charging stations across the country.
In 2022, Indonesia's state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has planned to add 40 Public Electric Vehicle Charging Station (SPKLU) units in several cities.
To date, Indonesia has operated 104 SPKLUs distributed in 38 cities.
"The construction of more SPKLUs is PLN's effort to improve services to comfort EV users and to attract public interest in using electric vehicles," the company's Corporate Communications Vice President, Agung Murdifi, said.
Murdifi further said that in the near time, PLN would provide 44 units of ultrafast EV chargers and 100 home charging units that were expected to be available for use starting in August this year.
"We want all EV drivers not to worry about running out of batteries when they travel for long distances," he said.
Murdifi also said that PLN was currently seeking investment from and open for collaboration with private entities or any related investors to build EV infrastructures and facilities in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina has also started to operate 14 units of battery swapping stations with 212 batteries at seven green public fuel filling stations (SPBUs).
As of Tuesday, the company has operated 143 green SPBUs and planned to have a total of 1,000 green SPBUs by the end of this year.
At the regional level, the country's capital Jakarta will start the initiative to support electricity-based vehicles.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Tuesday that all types of EVs in the city will be free from transportation tax.
"We have prepared fiscal incentives for EVs and will make them tax-free. This is applicable for all types of both four-wheel and two-wheel EVs," Baswedan said in a virtual seminar about e-mobility.
Further, Kacaribu said not only would the EV adoption attract investment and improve the environment quality, but also encourage the improvement of advanced technology by human resources. ■
