ASEAN is shifting its battery technology agenda from research and development toward manufacturing, commercialization and regional supply chains as electric mobility and energy storage create new demand for batteries across the region. This was the consensus at the 5th ASEAN Battery Technology Conference in Sepang, Malaysia this week.
The event brought together policymakers, manufacturers, researchers, technology developers, investors, standards organizations and industry groups from ASEAN region. Hosted by NanoMalaysia Berhad, the three-day conference which ended on August 18 focused on manufacturing scale-up, battery safety, certification, investment, commercialization, recycling, energy storage and market deployment under the theme “Industrializing Battery Technologies: Strengthening ASEAN's Battery Value Chain for Global Competitiveness.”
Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Chang Lih Kang called on ASEAN to move “from discussion to industrialization,” saying the region's strength was its ability to combine capabilities in research, manufacturing, standards development, investment and market integration. “By working together, we can build a resilient regional value chain that benefits all our economies,” Chang said.
The opening day produced a concrete example of that regional approach with the launch of a Malaysia-Indonesia nickel-manganese-cobalt, or NMC, graphene lithium-ion pouch cell. NanoMalaysia Berhad and Indonesia's National Battery Research Institute developed the cell by combining Indonesia's NMC active-material production capabilities with Malaysia's expertise in battery formulation, graphene technology and cell development.
The project follows a memorandum of understanding signed by the two organizations at ABTC 2025 covering technology transfer, joint research and innovation, testing and standardization, education and industrial training. The pouch-cell project provides an example of how ASEAN countries can combine specialized capabilities across battery materials and technology development instead of developing every part of the value chain independently.
Prof. Rezal Khairi Ahmad, chief executive officer of NanoMalaysia Berhad Group, said ASEAN already has significant technical capabilities and innovation strengths, but the priority now is to scale, integrate and commercialize them. Malaysia has been building infrastructure to move technologies from research into pilot and industrial applications, he said, but no single market can build the battery economy alone.
Malaysia has developed its own battery technology pipeline through the NanoMalaysia Energy Storage Technology Initiative and the Hydrogen-EV-Battery Centre, which support research, prototyping, testing, validation and pilot-scale manufacturing. The establishment of GigaFactory Malaysia Sdn Bhd and the introduction of graphene-enhanced lithium-ion battery technology are more recent efforts to translate local research into industrial-scale capabilities.
Rezal said industrialization is the difficult stage of the battery development process because a promising chemistry must still be scaled into manufacturing, validated for performance, certified against international standards, supported by investment and supply chains and accepted by the market. He said the ABTC program was designed to address those requirements across the battery value chain, from advanced chemistries and manufacturing technologies to battery energy storage systems, safety, certification, recycling, investment and market enablement.
The conference also produced several industry agreements covering battery manufacturing, energy storage and commercialization. GigaFactory Malaysia and Milan Utama signed a supply agreement for prototyping compact battery energy storage systems, while Infien Energy and Ampace announced a strategic collaboration. Green Tenaga and Go Rental Singapore also entered a partnership on sustainable energy solutions and wider clean-technology adoption.
Neoron Energy Network, Aryva Energy, Nano Commerce and GigaFactory Malaysia announced another partnership aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of battery and energy-storage solutions. GigaFactory Malaysia and Axium Industries will work on artificial intelligence and digital technologies for battery manufacturing, operational efficiency and supply-chain management, while GigaFactory Malaysia and Montavista Energy Technologies will collaborate on high-energy-density batteries, advanced materials, battery recycling, manufacturing capabilities, equipment and market development.
The technical program includes battery safety, manufacturing scale-up, energy storage, circularity and emerging technologies, with international experts including Professor Ying Shirley Meng of the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory and Professor Khalil Amine of Argonne National Laboratory. Regional participants include representatives from the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia, Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute, Pertamina, A*STAR and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines.
Battery safety and recycling are being treated as part of industrial development rather than issues to be addressed after manufacturing capacity is established. Rezal said ASEAN must continue advancing battery safety, sustainable manufacturing, recycling technologies and circular-economy practices as battery adoption accelerates across the region.
Regional cooperation on those issues includes the ASEAN Battery Safety Network, launched in 2025, and an ASEAN Battery White Paper under development. The initiatives are intended to strengthen shared knowledge, safety and regulatory practices and identify recommendations to accelerate the regional battery ecosystem.
The conference is also examining how the region's existing research and industry capabilities can be connected. The Singapore Battery Consortium, hosted at A*STAR and supported by Singapore's National Research Foundation, works to connect public research organizations and industry in developing and commercializing battery technologies. Thailand's Energy Storage Technology Association brings together academic, research, government and private-sector participants, while Indonesia's National Battery Research Institute supports research, training and education in electrochemical energy storage and seeks to support battery manufacturing using local resources.
The remaining sessions of ABTC 2026 will focus on manufacturing scale-up, production efficiency and the connection between battery materials, cells and system integration before moving to investment, energy storage and the conditions required for wider commercial deployment.
The ABTC was first held in Bali in 2023 and was followed by conferences in Singapore and Phuket. The organizers said the conference has developed into a regional platform for battery innovation and collaboration, with an agreement among ASEAN battery associations signed in 2023 and the ASEAN Battery Safety Network established in 2025.
In the first conference in Bali in 2023 was about creating an ASEAN battery network, with six regional organizations signing an MOU to collaborate on research, safety, standards and the circular economy. The 2024 Singapore edition broadened that network into the battery value chain, bringing greater attention to materials, cell-to-pack technologies, recycling and safety. At Phuket in 2025 the discussions centered on battery safety, sustainability and deployment further into the foreground and produced the ASEAN Battery Safety Network. This year's conference focused on industrialization, with manufacturing scale-up, certification, investment, energy storage, commercialization and cross-border technology development now taking center stage.
The conference's regional focus also brings the Philippines into a more prominent role. The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) is participating in the Malaysian conference and will take over the ABTC hostship from Malaysia at the close of the event.
The Philippines will host the fifth ASEAN Battery Technology Conference in 2027 through EVAP. The 2027 conference will be held in the Philippines at a venue yet to be determined.