Indonesia’s Minister of Investment, Rosan Roeslani, announced on Thursday that tech giant, Apple intends to invest $1 billion in a manufacturing facility in Indonesia that makes parts for cellphones and other gadgets.
Indonesia prohibited sales of the iPhone 16 in October, claiming Apple had violated regulations requiring at least 40% of domestically sold phones to be built in the country. Additionally, the government said last week that it will raise the demand for local content.
Min. Roeslani, told reporters that the specifics of the proposed investment were still being worked out. However, when pressed, he confirmed that it was the $1 billion investment that he had previously mentioned earlier this week.
Continuing, he had this to say: “We will discuss with them some more … our hope is for everything to be announced in the next week after receiving a written commitment from them.”
Apple’s $100 million investment plan to construct an accessory and component plant was turned down by the government last week, citing insufficient funds to lift the iPhone 16 ban. BrandSpur digital platform reports that a request for comment from Apple was not immediately answered. Although it has established application developer academies in Indonesia, a nation of around 280 million people, Apple does not yet have any manufacturing plants there.
However, Indonesia views such a tactic as an effort to satisfy local content standards for older iPhone models. Companies usually source parts domestically or form local partnerships to increase the local makeup.
