Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has invited Germany to participate in Indonesia’s critical minerals supply chain, including rare earth elements, as the two countries sought to deepen economic cooperation during a state visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Jakarta.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Prabowo said Indonesia was opening its doors to Germany across a broad range of strategic sectors including energy transition, energy security, education and employment. He extended invitations for expanded German investment in downstream industries, electric vehicles, the semiconductor industry and the energy sector more broadly.
The invitation reflects Indonesia’s ongoing strategy of leveraging its substantial critical minerals endowment — including the world’s largest nickel reserves and significant deposits of bauxite, copper, cobalt and rare earths — to attract investment from major industrial economies seeking to diversify supply chains away from Chinese dominance. Jakarta has pursued an aggressive downstream processing mandate since 2014, requiring minerals to be processed domestically before export, a policy that has attracted significant Chinese investment in nickel processing and which Jakarta is now seeking to broaden toward Western partners.
Germany, as Europe’s largest industrial economy and a major manufacturer of electric vehicles and high-technology equipment, has a strong strategic interest in securing access to the battery metals and rare earths Indonesia holds, particularly as Berlin expands its raw materials fund and intensifies its critical minerals diplomacy globally.
