JAKARTA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that he has signed the presidential regulation on the electric vehicle industry, expecting the regulation would prompt investors to immediately start the industry in the country.

The president's confirmation on the signing of the executive regulation was conveyed after witnessed the inauguration of the new ASEAN Secretariat building here.

"We knew that 60 percent of electric vehicles' essential element is in the battery. We have all of the minerals, like manganese, cobalt and so on to produce the battery. With business strategies we can arrange and initiate the electric car industry that produces highly competitive and affordable products as we have the materials here," the president was quoted as saying by the official cabinet secretariat website.

Developing the electric vehicle industry may take longer time than two or three years as there are many factors, including the market, that need to be considered as prices of electric cars are averagely 40 percent more expensive than regular cars, he said.

He, however, was optimistic that the price of electric vehicles can be reduced to an affordable level as Indonesia has the essential minerals to produce the battery.

Proposing several policies to support the operation of electric vehicles, the president said that the option to provide subsidy for electric vehicles is considerable, coupled with several incentives in organizing their administration documents.

"Such policies can initially be applied in Jakarta, particularly in public transport vehicles like buses, minibuses and taxis," the president said.

Indonesia is now the largest car market in Southeast Asia with 1.15 million cars sold in the country last year.