Apple’s CEO said the company is considering a manufacturing facility in Indonesia. By Reuters
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) will consider building a manufacturing facility in Indonesia, its CEO said after meeting President Joko Widodo on Wednesday. He hoped Apple would work with domestic companies to increase local content.
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday after visiting Vietnam. He has met with widely known President Joko Widodo and is set to open his fourth developer academy on the island of Bali.
“We talked about the president’s desire to see domestic manufacturing, and we will look at that,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.
Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia but has been establishing an App Developer Academy since 2018, with a total cost of 1.6 trillion rupees ($99 million) including the new academy.
Indonesian Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who attended the meeting, told reporters that if Apple decides to build a manufacturing facility in Indonesia, it will have production capacity for export.
“We will discuss how Apple’s facilities in Indonesia can become a global supply chain,” he said, adding that the government could work with Indonesian companies to secure parts even if Apple does not build a factory.
Agus said Apple had invested in developer academies to meet Indonesia’s 35% local content requirement to sell its products, but the government had hoped manufacturing facilities could push that number higher.
Apple has most of its major manufacturing facilities for iPad, AirPods and Apple Watch in Vietnam. MacBook suppliers are also investing in the country.
Indonesia has a large and tech-savvy population, making the Southeast Asian country a prime target market for technology-related investments.
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