JAKARTA (Reuters) – Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) will consider building a manufacturing plant in Indonesia, its CEO said on Wednesday after meeting President Joko Widodo, who hoped the tech giant would increase its local content by partnering with national companies.
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday after a visit to Vietnam. He met Jokowi, as he is popularly known, and will inaugurate his fourth developer academy on the island of Bali.
“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and that’s something we’ll look at,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.
Apple does not have manufacturing plants in Indonesia, but since 2018 it has established app developer academies, which, including the new academy, have a total cost of 1.6 trillion rupiah (99 million of dollars).
Indonesian Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who also attended the meeting, told reporters that if Apple decided to build a manufacturing plant in Indonesia, it would have the capacity to produce for export.
“We will discuss how Apple’s facilities in Indonesia could become a global supply chain,” he said, adding that the government had said that even if Apple did not build a factory, it could partner with Indonesian companies to obtain components.
Apple met Indonesia’s requirement of 35% local content to sell its products by investing in developer academies, Agus said, but the government hoped that figure could be increased through a manufacturing plant.
Apple has based much of its key manufacturing of iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam; MacBook suppliers are also investing in the country.
Indonesia has a sizable, technology-loving population, making the Southeast Asian country a key target market for technology-related investments.
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