JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is “looking at manufacturing in Indonesia” during his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo Wednesday.
“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it’s something we’ll look forward to,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.
Widodo’s government has worked for years to bring manufacturing to the country to boost economic development, while Apple seeks to diversify its supply chains beyond China, where most of its smartphones and tablets are assembled.
The company began shifting some production to countries such as Vietnam and more recently to India after shutdowns to combat COVID-19 in China repeatedly disrupted the company’s shipments.
“I think the investment opportunities in Indonesia are endless. I think there are a lot of great places to invest, and we are investing. We believe in the country,” Cook said.
The day before, Cook met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi, where he said Apple plans to invest more in Vietnam and increase spending on suppliers in the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub.
“Given China’s slowing economy and the Chinese government’s continued efforts to squeeze out foreign companies and replace them with domestic brands, Apple wants alternatives to manufacturing,” said Chris Miller, an associate professor at Tufts University, whose work focuses on on technology and geopolitics. .
“It has already increased investments in India and Vietnam, but is likely looking to other partners in Southeast Asia for additional manufacturing and assembly activities,” Miller said.
Cook’s visit to Indonesia came after Apple announced its fourth Apple Developer Academy in the country, based in Bali. The company first launched the program to train app developers in Indonesia in 2018, in the capital Jakarta.
Widodo’s government has sought to tap the country’s reserves of nickel and other raw materials to ramp up production, banning exports of raw materials such as nickel and bauxite to force companies to build refineries domestically.
Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Budi Arie Setiadi said on Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella would visit Indonesia at the end of April. ___
Associated Press writers Victoria Milko in Jakarta and Zen Soo in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
