Indonesia seeks investment from Apple for iPhone 16 launch

January 07, 2025 (MLN): Indonesia's industry ministry will meet representatives from Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday to discuss its investment in the country, a prerequisite for the tech giant to sell its latest iPhone 16 locally, a ministry official said.

Indonesia last year banned sales of Apple's iPhone 16 after it failed to meet requirements that smartphones sold domestically should comprise at least 40% locally-made parts, according to Reuters.

Apple currently has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, a market of 280 million people, but has since 2018 set up application developer academies in the country.

"Today, Apple's top brass will come to the Industry Ministry to negotiate the outstanding investment commitment and Apple's proposal," Industry Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters added.

Indonesia has previously said it requires Apple to commit to new investments every three years and its last commitment, worth $10mn, ended in 2023.

It is required to make a new commitment for 2024-2026 to meet the local content mandate.

Indonesia has said Apple's plans to invest $1 billion in a manufacturing plant that produces components for smartphones and other products, details of which were still being ironed out.

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