Indonesia is expecting to get a $1 billion investment commitment from Apple within a week, the country’s investment minister said on Tuesday, after the government banned sales of iPhone 16 models for failing to meet local product content rules.
Reuters:
Indonesia stopped sales of the smartphone because it requires those sold domestically to comprise at least 40% locally-made parts, which it said Apple had not adhered to. Indonesia plans to increase this requirement, a deputy minister said on Tuesday.
Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani told lawmakers in a hearing that Indonesia expects more investment if Apple decides to make the country part of its supply chain… “Whoever benefits from the sales must invest here, create jobs here. What’s important is how the global value chain moves here, because once it does, suppliers follow,” Rosan said, adding the investment commitment is part of a first phase.
Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, a country of about 280 million people, but has since 2018 set up application developer academies. Indonesia considers that strategy an attempt to meet local content requirement for the sale of older iPhone models.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s initial attempt to lift the ban on iPhone 16 sales in Indonesia, through a $100 million investment proposal for an accessory and component plant, was unsuccessful as the Indonesian government rejected this proposal.
This is how the game is played. If Apple wants access to a lucrative market, the lucrative market can (and should) demand something in return. So, the negotiations continue.
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Is Apple willing to grovel for the “privilege” of selling its iPhones in Indonesia? They will keep pushing Apple for more and more – until Tim Cook blinks.
Indonesia is listed by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. How much of that money will be diverted directly into the pockets of those corrupt politicians (and their relatives), and never get used for the purported purposes?