Not India, Elon Musk Plans Possible Investments In This Southeast Asia Country

The chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the rocket manufacturer’s site in Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday, during which Widodo extended an invite. 

“Hopefully in November, thank you for the invitation,” Musk said, according to a statement released by Widodo’s office.

Indonesia, home to some of the world’s largest deposits of copper, nickel and tin, touts its abundance of natural resources to lure billions of dollars of foreign investors’ money. 

The government has held talks on potential partnerships with Musk’s teams over the last several years, including on the development of electric vehicles with Tesla and on the possibility of a SpaceX rocket launch site in the country, but no agreements have been reached.

Musk’s Tesla puts India entry plan on hold

Meanwhile, Musk’s Tesla Inc has put on hold plans to sell electric cars in India, abandoned a search for showroom space and reassigned some of its domestic team after failing to secure lower import taxes, three people familiar with the matter had told Reuters.

The decision caps more than a year of deadlocked talks with government representatives as Tesla sought to first test demand by selling electric vehicles (EVs) imported from production hubs in the United States and China, at lower tariffs.

But the government is pushing Tesla to commit to manufacturing locally before it will lower tariffs, which can run as high as 100% on imported vehicles.

Tesla had set itself a deadline of February 1, the day India unveils its budget and announces tax changes, to see if its lobbying brought a result, the report added.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government did not offer a concession, Tesla put on hold the plans to import cars into India.

Musk is currently in a $44 billion takeover bid for Twitter, though that transaction has become clouded in uncertainty as he said his offer was “temporarily on hold” and then maintained he is “still committed” to the deal.