TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foxconn Technology Group will sign an agreement with Indonesian partners in March to produce electric vehicles (EVs) at a plant in Central Java, company chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said Thursday (Feb. 10).

However, he specified that recent comments by Indonesian Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia about a US$8 billion (NT$222.68 billion) investment in Batang Industrial Park referred to the total sum of the project, CNA reported. Foxconn would only be responsible for part of that total, Liu said, without providing any details.

He told reporters that the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian firms in late January, with the conclusion of a full contract expected in March. The partners include battery maker IBC, Indika Energy, and Taiwanese electric scooter maker Gogoro.

Foxconn is also preparing EV production in cooperation with Thailand’s state oil company PTT and Lordstown Motors Corporation, an American EV manufacturer based in Lordstown, Ohio. Production in Thailand is scheduled to start in the first half of 2024, while the first Endurance electric pickup truck should roll out of the U.S. factory during the third quarter of this year at the earliest, Liu said.

The Indonesian minister visited Taiwan last October. While in the country, he held meetings with top managers from Foxconn and Gogoro to discuss EV and battery projects. Foxconn, the world's leading contract manufacturer of electronics, including Apple iPhones and iPads, recently launched a full-scale push into the EV sector.