he government has invited representatives of Apple Inc. for a face-to-face meeting in the country to directly negotiate a proposed US$1 billion investment to build local manufacturing facilities.
But despite multiple invitations, the tech giant’s designated negotiator, Nick Ackman, has yet to come to Indonesia for any meetings, frustrating officials eager to finalize the deal.
“The industry minister has invited them several times, but they haven’t shown up. All we get are responses through WhatsApp,” said Industry Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif on Monday, as quoted by bisnis.com.
The ministry had received Apple’s updated investment proposal and forwarded it to the Investment and Downstream Ministry, Febri said, but the absence of face-to-face discussions had stalled progress.
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According to the ministry, Apple has submitted an updated plan to invest $1 billion in the country to establish a manufacturing plant for AirTag tracking devices on Batam Island and produce mesh components for AirPods Max headphones in Bandung. The plan also includes funding for Apple developer academies.
