Indonesia, Apple Discuss Development, Investment Opportunities in Indonesia

President Jokowi meets with the CEO of Apple Tim Cook at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (04/17). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/ Kris)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Wednesday (04/17) received delegates of Apple led by the CEO Tim Cook.  The meeting mainly discussed Apple’s plan to explore business opportunities in Indonesia.

“Earlier, the President received the CEO of Apple, Mr. Tim Cook, to discuss Apple’s strategic plans in Indonesia and measures to include Indonesia as part of the global supply chain,” Minister of Communications and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi said after the meeting, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

In the meantime, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita revealed Apple’s plan to establish the fourth Apple Developer Academy in Bali as a form of investment in Indonesia. For the record, there are currently three Apple Developer Academies, namely in Surabaya, Batam, and Tangerang.

He went on to say that President Jokowi encouraged Apple to build a manufacturing plant in Indonesia. Currently, only two components manufactured by the country are used in the production of Apple products.

“After the meeting, the Ministry of Industry will conduct a business matching process. We have already bagged a list of cellphone components that are manufactured in Indonesia that might be able to match; it is called business matching,” Agus said adding that President Jokowi also encouraged Apple to establish a center for innovation under cooperation with Indonesia’s best universities.

In that meeting, Tim Cook expressed his eagerness to follow up the President’s request and other efforts to develop Indonesian human resources though Apple. He also expressed his satisfaction towards performance of three Apple Developer Academies in Indonesia.

“We are opening the fourth Apple Developer Academy. We just announced it yesterday; this one will be in Bali. We could not be more excited on how the three have already performed, graduating thousands of people, and being able to create applications for the App Store for both domestic and international users. So, we’re very excited,” Tim Cook said.

He also will consider President Jokowi’s request to build a manufacturing plant in Indonesia since the country is an important market for Apple with many investment opportunities.

“I think investment ability in Indonesia is endless. I think that there are a lot of great places to invest, and we are making investment. We believe in this country,” he said. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/AIT) (RAS/MMB)