Indonesian President Joko Widodo has urged electric vehicle EV maker Tesla to manufacture its cars, as well as batteries in the country, in comments made to Bloomberg News on Thursday.
Indonesia had previously wooed Tesla for investment in its nickel industry, looking to produce and supply batteries for its EVs.
Jokowi, as the president, said in an interview that Indonesia wants a huge ecosystem of electric cars rather than just draw on its natural resources to make batteries.
He said Indonesia was considering imposing a tax on nickel exports this year to boost revenue. Officials said this could come as soon as the third quarter.
Indonesian officials have said that Tesla has struck deals worth about $5 billion to buy nickel products from the resource-rich country and signed a five-year contract with nickel processing companies in Morowali in Sulawesi island. The nickel materials will be used in Tesla's lithium batteries.
Jokowi met Elon Musk earlier in May in an effort to drum up investment prospects and invited him to visit Indonesia in November.
Tesla representatives didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.