Summary of the Apple CEO's Visit Agenda in Indonesia

Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Indonesia yesterday (17/4) after completing his visit to Vietnam and meeting with state officials. He has two big agendas, namely increasing Apple's cooperation and investment in the two countries.

In Indonesia, Apple is increasing its presence Apple Developer Academy and began considering building a manufacturing plant in Indonesia. Meanwhile in Vietnam, the commitment is more serious because they promise to spend extra money to buy components and accessories for Apple products from their suppliers.

Here's a summary:

1. Building the fourth Apple Developer Academy

Apple will build its fourth Apple Developer Academy in Bali. The total investment disbursed for this reached IDR 1,6 trillion. If you look closely, the Apple Developer Academy is available at Binus BSD (Tangerang); Ciputra University (Surabaya); Infinite Learning (Batam).

This academy provides opportunities for developers, students and entrepreneurs who want to start their careers in the iOS application industry in Indonesia.

"We are very enthusiastic about the developing developer community in Indonesia, and we hope to invest in the success of more coders with our fourth academy in the country," said Cook, quoted from Apple's official website.

2. TKDN fulfillment

Meanwhile, until now Apple has not complied with the regulations regarding the distribution of mobile phones, computers and tablets (HKT) in Indonesia, which requires it to meet the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of 35%. This regulation has been ratified since 2021 through the Minister of Communication and Information Regulation (Permenkominfo).

"We talked about the President's desire to see Apple product manufacturing in this country and that is something we will consider," Cook said after meeting with President Joko Widodo, quoting from Kompas.id.

Regarding this, the Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, said that this point is the main one because it is to encourage the manufacturing process for Apple products in Indonesia, and an agreement has been obtained.

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang added that the process for building Apple manufacturing in Indonesia had been agreed. The initial step is to use components that have been produced in Indonesia.

"Later from here, the Ministry of Industry will carry out a business matching process. "We already have a list of all the components," he said as quoted from CNBC Indonesia.

Budi Arie said, of the 360 ​​mobile device product components, only 2 come from Indonesia. This figure is small compared to the 72 components from Vietnam.

"Mr President also asked Tim Cook if more components from Apple could be made in Indonesia. That's why the issue is called global supply chain. The more components the better for added value," said Budi Arie.

Agus said that in 2023, there will be around 49-50 million cellphones produced in Indonesia. Of that figure, imports were only around 2,79 million units. "Of the 2,79 million units, I might say 85% are Apple products," he said.

Visit to Vietnam

Reporting from various media, In Vietnam, Cook met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi. Cook promised he would optimize expenses for its suppliers in Vietnam, by purchasing components and accessories in greater quantities for Apple products.

This will provide a big boost for Vietnam as a country in Southeast Asia which is developing into a global electronics center. Meanwhile, for Apple, this step was actually taken because Apple was trying to study ways to move gadget production from China in an effort to minimize geopolitical risks.

So far Apple has chosen Vietnam and India, after previously China, to be the favorite investment destinations for smartphone manufacturers in other Asian regions.

Therefore, Cook explored several countries, such as India, Vietnam and Indonesia. These three countries recorded a fourfold increase in the number of companies engaged in assembling Apple products over the last decade.

Chinh also expressed his plans to form a special group for the expansion of Apple products in his country. He also asked for Cook's help to develop a workforce that is skilled in their field with high quality.

Apple said that the company had spent nearly 400 trillion dong or around $15,8 billion in Vietnam since 2019 through its supply chain partners. The company has 25 suppliers in Vietnam as of 2022, according to its latest supplier list. These suppliers include Foxconn, GoerTek, Luxshare, Intel, Samsung Electronics and Compal.