Indonesia rejects Apple’s $100M investment after iPhone 16 sales ban

 Indonesia turned down an offer of $100 million in investments by Apple, saying it wasn’t sufficient to lift the ban on iPhone 16 sales, which was put in place in November as Apple didn’t follow a regulation that required smartphones sold in the country had to be made with at least 40% locally sourced components.

The decision was announced by the Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who noted that Apple’s plan is not consistent with principles of fairness when contrasted to the larger investments that the company has made in neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

“Currently, Apple has no production facilities in Indonesia. We urge them to establish manufacturing operations here to align with fairness principles, avoiding the need for repeated investment proposals every three years,” the Minister commented, as reported by AFP.

In order to promote economic development and attract significant international investments, the Indonesian government has been increasingly advocating for technology products to include more local content.

In previous years, Apple, which lacks production facilities in the country, has depended on programs such as application-developer academies to comply with regional standards for earlier iPhone models, an approach that has not satisfied the regulations for the latest model, according to AFP.

Apart from the $100 million plan, Minister Agus also noted that Apple had not yet fulfilled a previous investment pledge of $10 million that was due before 2023. Additionally, he encouraged the tech giant to make to a serious, long-term investment commitment that would last until 2026.

While discussions are still ongoing, Agus stated that he intends to invite Apple to Indonesia to conduct further negotiations, Reuters reported.