Jakarta. Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani announced Tuesday that Apple planned to set up a factory that would support the production of its tracking device AirTag in Batam.

This project is set for completion by early next year.

The California-based tech giant has sent its vice president for global government affairs Nick Ammann to engage in some talks with Indonesian ministers -- all in hopes of nudging Jakarta into lifting the sales ban on the iPhone 16.

Indonesia will only allow Apple to legally sell the coveted iPhone 16 in its market if the company meets the local content requirement. Southeast Asia’s largest economy mandates Apple to have at least 35 percent of its product components to be domestically made.

Rosan was among the government officials that Ammann met that day during his Jakarta visit. Not long after the talks, Rosan told the press of Apple’s plans for a local production of AirTag, a device that people find their personal items.

This AirTag vendor facility is part of the $1 billion investment pledge that Apple has proposed. Apple has picked Batam -- Riau Islands’ largest city -- for the manufacturing plant. Rosan claimed that the Batam factory would supply 65 percent of what Apple needs to meet its global demand.

"This is just the initial phase, and there will be more of Apple’s vendors coming [to Indonesia] so [the] $1 billion investment pledge will eventually increase. Vietnam already has over 30 Apple suppliers, and Thailand has more than 23 vendors. So our [cooperation] scheme will be similar to Apple's investment in other ASEAN economies,” Rosan said. 

The minister claimed that Apple had already “taken a look” at their future Batam manufacturing site.

“The [construction] should begin immediately. ... We are targeting to have this facility finished by early 2026," Rosan said.

Rosan’s comment also showed some conflicting views within the Indonesian government. While Rosan was satisfied with Apple’s $1 billion investment, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that those figures were “insufficient”. Before visiting Rosan’s office, Ammann had met with Agus earlier that day. 

Not long after speaking with the Apple executive, Agus said that the government had not set a time frame for a deal with the iPhone 16 producer. Agus wants Apple to take its time to make sure that whatever it proposes meets certain “fairness criteria”. This includes having Apple’s eventual investment to create as many jobs for the locals. Indonesia will also take into account how big of an investment has Apple poured into other countries.

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