JAKARTA, March 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's investment

minister said that Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast

planned to install as many as 100,000 charging stations across

the country, after President Prabowo Subianto met company

representatives on Tuesday.

Minister Rosan Roeslani also said VinFast's factory in West

Java province would start operations next year, with a

production capacity of 50,000 units a year. The company broke

ground on the $200 million EV assembly plant last year.

VinFast did not immediately respond to a request for

comment. Company executives declined to speak to the press after

meeting Prabowo.

Indonesia has ambitions to become an EV manufacturing hub,

trying to leverage on its rich nickel reserves, used for the

manufacturing of EV batteries. The government has also been

offering a range of incentives to carmakers.

Adoption of electric cars in the country has also risen

in recent months as more EV makers offer affordable models.

Car sales in February rose 2.2% year-on-year

, the first increase since June 2023 and driven mostly by EV

sales.

VinFast's planned charging station investment could help

fuel further growth, Rosan said.

"(VinFast) has selected the charging station points. For

us, with EV infrastructure, adoption of electric cars can rise,"

Rosan said.

The firm was also mulling investments in Indonesia's

renewable energy sector, building wind farms and solar panels,

the minister said.

Prabowo's meeting with VinFast came a day after the

Indonesian president held a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese

Communist Party chief To Lam, during which both countries agreed

to increase their economic cooperation.