Joe Biden hosted ASEAN leaders in Washington last week for a special summit to commemorate 45 years of US-ASEAN ties. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, founded in August 1967 and consisting of 10 nations, is an important political and economic union in the region as it covers a population of 660 million with a GDP of US$9.7 trillion.
In comparison, the European Union has a population of less than 450 million even though its GDP is higher than ASEAN. The meeting was long overdue and was supposed to take place under Trump administration, but deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Between the European Union and ASEAN, the U.S. has a closer relationship with the former.
It was a huge mistake that the ASEAN leaders had flown to Washington to meet with the U.S. president. Biden should be the one travel to ASEAN to meet the leaders. That’s because ASEAN is China’s largest trading partner after the EU. China’s trade with the ASEAN totaled 1.35 trillion yuan (US$212 billion) in the first quarter of 2022 – an increase of 8.4% year-on-year.
The U.S. wanted the ASEAN leaders to travel all the way to Washington to show off its influence, telling China that it could order the Southeast Asian leaders around. To show Washington’s appreciation, Biden threw away US$150 million investment for the region. It was actually an insult because China pledged US$1.5 billion to help the region fight Covid-19 and achieve economic recovery.
But the U.S.’ real objective was to pressure ASEAN to counter China in Indo-Pacific as Biden smiled broadly as he took a group photo before the dinner with representatives from Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. However, ASEAN has refused to be dragged into the geo-political rivalry between the U.S. and China.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Cambodia will not choose between China and the U.S. – “Whether or not you force me to take one, I will refuse”. Ahead of the summit, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has pre-emptively expressed Thailand’s neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The best remark, arguably, came from Vietnam.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that “between independence and dependence, our choice is always independence … Between negotiation and confrontation, we choose negotiation. Between dialogue and conflict, we choose dialogue. And between peace and war, we choose peace. Between cooperation and competition, we choose cooperation.”
Indonesia, scheduled to host G20 summit in November, was more diplomatic. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said – “Indonesia expects this special summit will produce a partnership that can contribute to peace, stability, and regional welfare”. But meeting “Sleepy Joe” Biden was not Jokowi’s top priority. There was someone who is more important than the Commander-in-Chief.
Immediately after the non-productive ASEAN leaders meeting with Biden, the Indonesian president met on Saturday (May 14) with Tesla CEO and the world’s richest man – Elon Musk – at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. They discussed the potential investments and technology amid speculation that Tesla may choose Indonesia for a manufacturing base in Asia.
Nickel, a key raw material used in electric vehicle batteries, saw supply disruption after the Ukraine war erupted as Russia is a major producer of nickel. But Indonesia has the world’s biggest nickel reserves, and the ambitious Widodo is keen to develop the nickel industry, supply of batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and even assembling electric vehicle industry at home.
It was a follow-up meeting by Jokowi, who is eager to accelerate development of Indonesian nickel industry to supply batteries for electric vehicles after Tesla executives visited the nickel production hub of Morawali on Sulawesi island. Indonesia has been trying for years to secure a deal with Tesla on battery investment and potentially for Musk’s SpaceX aerospace company.
President Jokowi arrived at the Stargate SpaceX Building at around 10:30 a.m. local time and was greeted personally by Musk, who then gave the Indonesian leader a tour of SpaceX’s rocket production facility. During the private meeting with Elon Musk, Jokowi invited the billionaire to visit Indonesia in November, during which he will host a summit of the Group of the 20 big economies in Bali.
In response, Musk said there could be room for “partnerships in many things, because Indonesia has a lot of potential”. The billionaire, worth a staggering US$221 billion, has agreed to buy Twitter for US$44 billion, but in a latest twist, said the deal is on hold until he has more clarity on how many accounts are fake, which Twitter said is less than 5%, but Musk estimates around 20%.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, has earlier struck multi-billion dollar deals with South Korean and Chinese companies to take advantage of its nickel resources. A consortium led by South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd, the global second biggest maker of EV batteries, announced plans last month (April) to invest US$9 billion in Indonesia.
In the same month, China’s top battery producer, Contemporary Amperex Technology, an existing Tesla supplier, announced a US$6 billion Indonesia investment. The Chinese company will partner with local state-owned PT Aneka Tambang and PT Industri Baterai on a mega project to build everything from nickel mining to battery materials, recycling, and an EV battery factory.
Last year (August 2021), South Korean conglomerates Hyundai and LG announced a 50:50 joint-venture to build a US$1.1 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Karawang, Indonesia’s West Java province. With annual capacity for 10 gigawatt hours of battery cells, Hyundai and LG can churn out a whopping 150,000 battery-run electric vehicles.
Tesla, however, is spoil for choice. Besides having deals to source batteries from the Chinese and South Korean companies, the American electric vehicle maker has also just signed a long-term deal last week with Brazilian miner Vale to supply “Class 1” low-carbon nickel from its Canadian operations in Ontario. Vale has nickel operations in Indonesia.
The talks between Tesla and the Indonesian government started as early as 2020. Initially, Elon Musk, struggling with battery supply, was only interested in scouting for mining companies to increase nickel production. However, Indonesia was not interested in selling the raw materials, in an effort to develop a full supply chain – from extraction, processing to making batteries to meet the demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
Indonesia’s value proposition is not merely nickel. Jokowi is trying to upsell with proposal to deliver a secure and long-term supply of other raw materials like cobalt, a key ingredient of lithium batteries. As one-stop solution, the country could also deliver alumina, tin, graphite, manganese and the rare earth Monazite. Jokowi also tries his luck to convince Musk to set up rocket launch pad there.
It will be a huge win for Indonesia if Jokowi could charm Musk. Interestingly, neighbouring Malaysia too is lobbying for Tesla to open a plant in the country. Unlike Jokowi, however, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri is a failure. During his meeting with the US-ASEAN Business Council, Ismail merely asked the American business community to play a larger role in attracting investments to Malaysia.
The turtle-egg man invited several Fortune 500 companies, especially Tesla, to invest in Malaysia. But that was all he did. He didn’t take advantage of his trip to the U.S. to visit and lobby Elon Musk personally. Perhaps PM Sabri thought “Ketuanan Melayu”, the ideology of Malay supremacy espoused by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), means the billionaire should visit him instead.
So, while Malaysia waits for Tesla to make the first move, President Jokowi got his hands dirty – quietly and humbly paid a visit to Elon Musk, and won a rare tour of SpaceX as well as a prospect to win Tesla’s investment. The Indonesia leader previously met Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in 2014 in Jakarta to discuss ways the social network can contribute to his country’s economy.
It was already bad that Malaysia does not have nickel and other raw materials to entice Tesla to the country. It becomes worse when Jokowi approached Elon Musk personally, offering value propositions that the clueless Ismail Sabri has no idea at all. Which country do you think Tesla will pour billions of dollars into? Of course, Sabri has more urgent matter to attend.
As Jokowi rushed to meet the founder of Tesla and SpaceX for long-term investment, the incompetent Sabri rushed back home for a 5-minute “syok sendiri” (full of oneself) party as his supporters had pre-arranged a hero welcome home for him. The prime minister proudly uploaded a video showing him being greeted by a large crowd upon arriving from his trip to the U.S.
Exactly what was there to celebrate is beyond comprehension. It was both comical and childish that Ismail Sabri’s band of apple-polishers cheered and clapped for him. It was also deplorable that the UMNO supporters shamelessly carried banners that read “DSIS, Our unsung hero” and “Malaysia is on the right track under DSIS leadership”. Heck, they even sang songs of praise for him.
It might make sense if this happened in 1947, when then-Malayan Airways Limited flew its first commercial flight, allowing Ismail Sabri as the first Malay to travel to the U.S. for the first time in history. Obviously, after his humiliating Arab tour to the U.A.E. last month, his minions desperately needed something – anything – to cheer him in preparation for the coming 15th General Election.
Someone should tell Ismail Sabri that those banners should be in “Bahasa Melayu” (Malay language), not English. Someone should also inform the turtle-egg man that the US$150 million investment pledged by Biden is for ASEAN, not some jackpot money that he had won in the U.S. Hilariously, Sabri was the only ASEAN leaders who had received a self-praised and self-congratulatory party.
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May 18th, 2022 by financetwitter
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Comments
It’s Elon Musk’s loss of the century old egg not rushing over here to meet our PM the Turtle Egg. What a brilliant outcome that would be the supposed Tesla great brain meets our PM with the drain brain certified by our best kampong longkang septic think-tanks.
With Bolehland’s expertise in flying cars and kissing trains, Musk would have benefitted vastly from any cooperation in the area of advanced technology, remember Proton was invented by our very own geniuses who could make a crappy cheap rubbish “car” into something expensive.
The taking over of the substantial part of Proton in a joint-venture with the Chinese has seen the permanent loss-making stone around Malaisesia’s neck blossomed into a very decent success, the Chinese so pleased that they are thinking of changing the jinxed Proton name to Porkton.
Porkton is no longer a saga of a primitive society’s attempt to climb out of the Stone Age in those nasty variations of origami coffins with four cheap tyres for the uncomfortable journeys to the graveyards. These days you can go in style to the graveyards in those pretend-Volvos from the nice Chinese uncles, our horrendously bad drivers on our dangerous roads will help you along. Remember the high world ranking our retard drivers have won for our nation for the worst dumb, deaf, blind moronic “drivers” there are on the planet!
And if Musk has the foresight and hindsight and knows to use the front and rear view mirrors like our phcuking drivers can’t, he would, if he still wants Twitter, find Malaisesia as a partner for the “Twit” part, can supply all the fcuking twits to make the wan part of Twitter a great success. This would not be possible with a deal with Indonesia as Malaisesia has the monopoly on certified fcuking morons.
But, of course, Malaisesia is not Indonesia, Malaisesia’s brand of ketuanan is, like everything else, half-baked and a full joke. In fact, Indonesia laughs at Malaisesia all the time for its gross ketuanan stupidity. When they don’t laugh, as when they got pissed off for our copying their batek, they laid siege on our embassy and bombarded it with human and animal fertiliser and rotting dead fish for our cultural appropriation. It seems our very original monkeys are good only at pirating others’ stuff and looting from everybody else from culture to our fcuking rojak pidgin of everybody else’s language!
If the monkeys in our gomen are not so dedicated at being so uniquely naturally fcuking stupid, they should have invited themselves to the Indon party for Musk – and cut across any deal meant for the Indons. As usual we are always too late for everything, it’s too late to send our expert on kissing trains to Indonesia to impress Musk and cut a deal, Musk has long left. Still, our expert can be useful as Malaisesia’s contribution to the end of civilisation, the Indonesians will get plenty of free laughs out of the monkey.
If our top dog monkey thought about it, being chummy with Musk would have helped with censorship on Twitter of anything Sabrina doesn’t like – and there would be more than plenty of that since there are lots of folks who do not like Turtle Egg wan bit. If Musk doesn’t take over Twitter, there would still be plenty Musk can do for Sabrina. For example, Musk could put in his influence and some nice words for Ketuanan in his old homeland.
South Africa has many Malays formerly exported from Tanah Nuisancetara, they are resigned to being turd class fcuking pendatangs by the blacks and whites alike, and left to be in the drug trade, gangster and hustler businesses, living in shanty hovels, thumped and shot at all the time, and not even ever talked about like they are humans. How many of you know there are (still) Malays in South Africa? Some may want to return to their great homeland though I suspect more would prefer to be fcuked up in South Africa than to have their lives run by our fcuking monkeys if they return.
Musk could elevate Sabrina’s stature by getting South Africa introduced to Ketuanan, the natives there are great singers could belt out some nice numbers about Saviour Sabrina liberate the Malays there when they sing their welcome. The Malays there all speak the lowly Cape lingo used by the black soul bros – though the bros often beat up or shoot the Malays. Without Musk, Sabrina would be treated as just another drug pusher or addict get shot at even by the Malays or other gangsters who are yet to discover Ketuanan – or don’t give a shiite about it anyway.
The moral of the story is our monkeys are truly a bred else, and excellent at getting absolutely nowhere very slowly. And we have a permanent silly season when our monkeys in gomen (and “opposition”) make priceless arseh*les of themselves. Just think of that zero’s “hero’s” home welcome, there’s even dedicated singing for Sabrina Lowyatkob, wtf! Singing is not permitted in the Islam of our brand, if it is not to the glory of the faith. Mere mortals, zeros, and even prophets are not to be praised in any way, wtf!
Only in the very Un-Islamic Malaisesia would we find such forbidden behaviour as hero-worship of a zero. In the Middle East, the minarets would not be blaring calls to rush to the airport to greet Sabrina, singing or not. And that’s why nobody turned up even to get the camels to spit on Sabrina on his UAE state visit! When it all gets to Sabrina’s head, he becomes fool of himself, thinks he can survive the next election!
Btw, singing is permitted in Sufism within quite a broad boundary. Sufis are great musicians, but then our intolerant brand of the faith does not like Sufis. Bit weird, considering my Malay Muslim bros and sisters are all into all sorts of “banned” music, many even sing in Chinese and Korean, and even take part in competitions, wtf! I once recited the Shema in its original language in a cultural event here, several Muslims praised me afterwards for my fluent Arabic! So for Bolehland does it matter what one says or sings in what language?
My Arab friends, peace be upon them, all say the level of command of Arabic here is really appalling. There is a considerable following of China’s broadcast in the Arabic language, them Arabs are over the moon when they see and here “cute and mesmerising” Chinese speak Arabic. Well, that’s Ketuanan Cina for you!
Still, if I get a welcome at the airport with the singing like for Sabrina, I’d walk back to the plane and fly out immediately and never return, the singing and the sight is fcuking cringeworthy, any sane mentally-healthy human would be deeply embarrassed and wish himself dead and buried… I bet that was what those rounded up to do the fcuking “singing” felt too, wtf!
Tesla announced yesterday that they will build a plant in Indonesia. Like you said, Jokowi works harder, and surely this is a huge gain for Indonesia. Other companies will follow.