The electric vehicle ecosystem, with its long economic value chain, can become one of the new industrial platforms in the new global hot spot of the Indo-Pacific region.
The growth of the global digital economy has shaped a new integration of regional economies. The European Union, for example, has developed the single market and digital single market, integrating trade in goods and services, capital flows, e-commerce, data, cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity; its single market encompasses around 450 million consumers with an economy of approximately €18 trillion.
In the Gulf region, the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are promoting integration through digital payments, fintech, AI, cloud services, 5G, and digital infrastructure. In the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, mobile technology alone contributed around US$350 ($503) billion to the economy in 2024 and is projected to increase to US$470 ($675) billion by 2030.
As economic integration deepens, the need to manage interdependence and fragmentation emerges. Differences in standards and infrastructure can create gaps and vulnerabilities among countries. Therefore, economic integration cannot be built solely through digital connectivity, but also requires complementary production, trade, investment, and physical infrastructure networks.
Therefore, building an economic network capable of connecting regions is relevant, and history offers many important lessons. Long before the term Indo-Pacific was used, the region stretching from the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia and East Asia already had highly dynamic economic networks connecting kingdoms and economic centres.
For centuries, traders from India, China, the Middle East and the Southeast Asian archipelago met at various ports connecting the Bay of Bengal, the Strait of Malacca, the Java Sea and the South China Sea. In addition to maritime trade, these routes also strengthened exchanges of technology, culture and knowledge. UNESCO also describes the maritime Silk Roads as a network connecting China and Southeast Asia with India, the Middle East and Africa through the Indian Ocean.
In the current economic context, electric vehicles (EVs) can become one of the new industrial platforms that can be developed in the Indo-Pacific region. The EV ecosystem is a much longer economic value chain. It needs critical minerals, mineral processing, active battery materials, battery cells, electronic components, electric motors, software, vehicle manufacturing, charging infrastructure, trade, and battery recycling. Thus, EVs are expected to emerge as an interregional industrial platform.
The Indo-Pacific has most of the elements needed to build such a supply chain. China has enormous EV and battery manufacturing capacity. Japan and South Korea have strengths in technology, automotive manufacturing and batteries. Indonesia has a nickel supply chain. India has a large domestic market as well as a manufacturing base. Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia can serve as production, assembly, component and market bases.
Meanwhile, the Gulf countries can play a role through capital, energy, logistics infrastructure, investment, as well as access to Middle Eastern and African markets.
This emphasis is important because the EV supply chain remains concentrated. In terms of battery raw materials, Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer. The IEA notes that its share of global nickel production increased from 34 per cent in 2020 to 52 per cent in 2023. For refined nickel, it rose from 23 per cent to 37 per cent.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Indonesia’s mined nickel production is estimated to reach 2.31 million tons of nickel content, up from 2.03 million tons in 2023.
The EV ecosystem is a much longer economic value chain. It needs critical minerals, mineral processing, active battery materials, battery cells, electronic components, electric motors, software, vehicle manufacturing, charging infrastructure, trade, and battery recycling.
In terms of manufacturing, the International Energy Agency notes that in 2025 China accounted for around 70 per cent of global electric car production and more than 80 per cent of battery cell production.
China also controls around 85 per cent of cathode active material production and more than 90 per cent of anode active material production for electric car batteries. In the same year, global electric car production approached 22 million units, up more than 25 per cent compared with the previous year.
Around one-quarter of the electric cars produced in 2025 were traded across borders. China’s electric car exports to the Middle East even grew 60 per cent in 2025, demonstrating the increasingly strong economic ties between East Asian EV manufacturing and Middle Eastern markets.
Indo-Pacific integration is not intended to completely separate from China. What is more realistic is to build a more diversified and complementary supply chain. The Indo-Pacific also does not have to imitate the European Union. Countries in this region have different political systems, levels of development and strategic interests, so economic cohesion does not have to be built through political integration.
Such integration can be built through six economic bonds:
- EV standardisation, covering batteries, charging, safety and interoperability
- trade corridors with sea routes as the main infrastructure
- complementary relationships among countries possessing critical minerals
- cross-border investment
- digitalisation through software, AI, vehicle data and payment systems
- the circular economy, namely battery recycling
If these six bonds can be connected, the Indo-Pacific will not only have a new trade network, but an EV-based trade corridor connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans through Southeast Asia, China, India, Indonesia, and the Gulf region.
From a longer historical perspective, this idea is not about literally reviving the Spice Routes, but about reviving the exchange of resources, capital, technology, and markets through a new maritime network. If spices were once the driving force, then EVs and their industrial ecosystem can become one of the new drivers of economic integration in this region.
