Various agreements signed on climate-friendly energy and critical minerals.
Indonesia and the Australian state of Western Australia want to expand their bilateral cooperation in renewable energies and raw materials and, in this way, reduce their dependence on China in particular. Both parties have also signed new agreements with South Korea in this regard.
Earlier this week, Minister of Mines and Energy of resource-rich Western Australia, Bill Johnston, visited the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources with industry representatives. The topic was the shift to climate-friendly energy production; specifically, an agreement was reached on cooperation in the field of battery research.
Australia and Indonesia are among the world’s largest coal exporters but have great potential for generating renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydropower. Both countries also have significant deposits of minerals needed for climate-friendly technologies. Indonesia is the most important supplier of the battery metal nickel and also plans to mine rare earths, which are required for electric motors, for example. Australia is the largest lithium producer and is increasingly developing as a supplier of rare earths as an alternative to world market leader China.
Scarce Natural Resources: South Korea Seeks Partnerships With Resource-Rich Countries
Johnston’s trip is part of a major Western Australian trade offensive in Indonesia with 130 government and business representatives, including Premier Roger Cook. The latter then traveled to South Korea, Western Australia’s third-largest trading partner, to strengthen economic ties. A deepening of bilateral cooperation in critical minerals, clean hydrogen, and CO₂ capture technologies, among others, was agreed on Friday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency writes. The East Asian country, which is poor in natural resources, wants to improve its supply of critical raw materials and reduce its dependence on imports. As we reported, various new partnerships have already been entered into.
For their part, Indonesia and South Korea signed memorandums of understanding this week to cooperate on critical minerals, electromobility, and nuclear energy, among other areas. To that end, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo met in Jakarta. Radio Free Asia writes that the move would also support the U.S. government’s current efforts to restructure global supply chains and curb China’s influence.
Photo: iStock/1xpert
