Jakarta. French mining giant Eramet signed a deal related to the nickel-based battery materials with Indonesia’s sovereign wealth funds Danantara and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) in Jakarta on Wednesday.

This memorandum of understanding (MoU) was one of the major outcomes from French President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto.

According to Danantara, the partnership aims to develop a sustainable and integrated electric vehicle (EV) battery raw materials ecosystem in the Southeast Asian country. All three will work together on a preliminary assessment to identify the most viable projects in Indonesia’s EV ecosystem. They have also agreed to develop a roadmap for future collaborations.

Danantara’s chief investment officer, Pandu Sjahrir, revealed that the two funds would manage the long-term financing. On the other hand, Eramet is in charge of providing the technical expertise and experience that are needed for a large-scale mining project that meets international sustainability standards.

“This partnership reflects the commitment of the three parties to encourage world-class nickel downstream investments in Indonesia -- an essential pillar in enhancing the competitiveness of the national industry,” Pandu was quoted as saying in a press statement.

Eramet Group’s chief executive officer Paulo Castellari revealed that the company had already “reviewed various opportunities” to partake in Indonesia’s nickel-based EV battery value chain.

He added: “With a shared focus on downstream development, energy transition, and critical minerals, Danantara and INA’s priorities are closely aligned with Eramet’s strategic ambitions in Indonesia.”

Since its establishment three months ago, Danantara has consolidated the assets of all 844 government-run businesses, including its sub-subsidiaries. Danantara is open to co-investment schemes with foreign agencies, and has even agreed to set up a joint fund worth $4 billion with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Danantara mainly targets industrial processing, food production, petrochemicals, or basically sectors that can greatly spur the Indonesian economy.

INA is a separate sovereign fund that took shape when Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was still in office. According to its official website, INA boasts about $10.5 billion in assets under management. 

Eramet’s main presence in Indonesia lies at the Weda Bay Nickel joint venture. The French company runs the open-pit nickel mining operation in North Maluku’s Halmahera in a joint venture that it shares with Chinese stainless steelmaker Tsingshan and state-run miner Antam. This mining site also represents 17 percent of the global nickel production.

Danantara CEO Rosan Roeslani had dropped hints of the fund possibly partnering with Eramet. 

Nickel, of which Indonesia is abundant in, is a mainstay ingredient in EV battery production.

Indonesia and France also signed a separate government-to-government letter of intent on critical minerals that day. The Indonesian government will likely reveal more details on this partnership soon.

“This independence, policy of sovereignty, requires us to strengthen the resilience of our value chains. [And thus] we have signed [cooperation] in many areas, including on critical minerals,” Macron said.

Official statistics showed that France invested $85 million in 3,750 projects across Indonesia throughout the first quarter of 2025. The government, however, did not give details on the sectors that were popular among French investors. Bilateral trade amounted to $2.4 billion last year.