Jakarta. A minister unveiled South Korean conglomerate LG’s plans to invest another $1.7 billion in a battery cell joint venture in Indonesia on Tuesday, not long after the company cancelled some of its major investments in the country.

LG recently made headlines after it withdrew from Indonesia’s multibillion-dollar battery supply chain megaproject, citing unfavorable market conditions. The company, however, decided to keep participating in the battery cell project that it ran via a joint venture scheme.

Last year, HLI Green Power -- the joint venture in question -- officially launched its battery cell factory in West Java’s Karawang. Aside from the battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution, HLI Green Power brings together Seoul-based auto giant Hyundai and local firm Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC). Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani said that the investments made in the battery cell joint venture were worth $1.1 billion, and LG would likely more than double these numbers soon.

“I will visit the [Karawang] plant tomorrow. Because [LG] had initial talks with us about their interest in investing another $1.7 billion. This will raise the total investment in [the battery cell] joint venture to $2.8 billion,” Rosan told a news conference in Jakarta.

“I believe that LG can quickly realize the [$1.7 billion] additional investment. Because we are actively discussing with LG, and we have received positive responses to develop the second phase of the battery cell investment," Rosan said.

Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched the Karawang project in July 2024, during which he claimed that it was Southeast Asia’s first and largest EV battery cell plant. Reports released during its launch said the first phase of the development cost around $1 billion, and would produce 10 gigawatt/hour (GWh) battery cells -- enough to power 150,000 EVs. The second phase will take up a $2 billion in investment, thus doubling the capacity to 20 GWh.

Official statistics showed that Indonesia amassed nearly $683.3 million in investments from South Korea in Q1 2025. This made South Korea as Indonesia’s seventh-largest source of foreign direct investment, just behind the US (about $802.2 million). The Southeast Asian country attracted Rp 230.4 trillion (around $13.7 billion) in foreign direct investment over the said three-month period.