Indonesia’s president visits Vietnam’s EV maker Vinfast and says conditions ready for a car plant

By HAU DINH and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has visited Vietnamese automaker VinFast’s factory and said that he would create the necessary conditions for the multinational to be able to build a plant and invest in Indonesia quickly. On a trip to the sprawling factory in the port city of Haiphong in northern Vietnam, Widodo also sat behind the wheel of a VinFast electric car before wrapping up his three-day visit to Vietnam on Saturday. The Vietnamese EV maker has said it will invest $1.2 billion in Indonesia and build a factory with the potential to make up to 50,000 vehicles every year. Green SM, an EV taxi operator that is mostly owned by VinFast’s founder, also announced an investment plan of $900 million in Indonesia.