"Hello Indonesia, apa kabar? (hello, Indonesia, how are you?), chicken satay accompanied by photographer Sofyan Pratama - the perfect start to the visit to Jakarta," wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook on social media. And he posted a photo showing that he indeed decided to try the most popular skewered kebabs in Indonesia.
Fueling up before the official part of the visit was the right decision - the schedule of meetings for the high guest from Cupertino turned out to be very tight.
At a meeting in the presidential palace, the current head of the country, Joko Widodo, suggested to the CEO of the tech giant to develop a smart city in Nusantara, the newly built capital of Indonesia on the island of Kalimantan. Cook liked the idea, he promised to seriously consider it and come back with an answer.
Another outcome of the Apple delegation's visit may be the construction of a factory in Indonesia. This has long been a dream of the authorities, and Joko Widodo did not miss the opportunity to remind Cook of it.
Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Budi Arie Setiadi, shared details of the conversation: "At the meeting, the president asked Apple to increase Indonesia's role in the global supply chain, and Apple welcomed this."
"As for the production of components for Apple products, only two components are currently being created in Indonesia, which is incomparable, for example, with the 72 components produced in neighboring Vietnam," the minister continued.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Industry data, in 2023, Indonesia imported Apple products worth two billion US dollars. Considering this, Indonesia wants to be not only a market for Apple products but also actively participate in manufacturing processes by attracting investments into the country.
"The government states that the Indonesian market is open to high technologies. But we don't just want to import. Apple products should have added value for Indonesia," emphasized the minister.
Indonesia requires that smartphones sold in the country consist of at least 35% local components. Currently, iPhones satisfy the quota thanks to the company's investments in local software development. However, there is still no official Apple store in the country, and this issue was also raised with Tim Cook.
The first steps towards increasing Indonesia's role in the Apple production chain have already been taken. Tim Cook mentioned that his company continues to develop digital talents in the country and is opening another academy in Indonesia, on the island of Bali. The tech giant has already invested 1.6 trillion rupiahs in building educational centers. These are academies for training programmers, software developers, and digital technology specialists. After completing the 10-month training, they receive job offers from Apple. Currently, there are three of them in Indonesia - in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Batam.
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