TheIKNPost.com – President Joko Widodo moved quickly to follow up on Apple’s investment plans in Indonesia after meeting Tim Cook at the Palace. One of them is appointing the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as Apple’s investment coordinator in the National Capital City (IKN) of the archipelago.
This was conveyed by the Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang, as quoted from CNN Indonesia, Wednesday (17/4). Luhut’s appointment, said Agus, was a follow-up to Jokowi’s request to Apple CEO Tim Cook for the company to invest in developing a Smart City at IKN.
“Later, Mr. President will assign Mr. Luhut as coordinator,” said Agus.
Previously, Tim Cook met Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, to discuss Apple investment opportunities in Indonesia. After the meeting, Tim said that Jokowi expressed his desire for Apple to open a factory in Indonesia.
According to Agus Gumiwang, Apple products are one of the largest units imported by Indonesia. Of the 2.79 million units imported, 85 percent were Apple products, making the demand for factory construction in Indonesia reasonable.
Apart from that, Agus said, the presence of an Apple factory in Indonesia can also provide added value for the country, namely through the Domestic Component Level (TKDN).
Agus explained that Apple would provide investment in the form of building an Apple Developer Academy in four cities (Bali, Batam, Surabaya and South Tangerang) with a total value of IDR 1.8 trillion.
