Apple’s US$1bil outlay may be a fleeting win

Meeting regulations: Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York. As part of the firm’s latest offer to Indonesia, one of its suppliers will set up a plant producing AirTags on the island of Batam and employ around 1,000 workers. — Bloomberg

JAKARTA: Indonesia has claimed victory after Apple Inc offered to increase its investment in the country to US$1bil to get President Prabowo Subianto’s government to lift a ban on the sale of iPhone 16s. The win may be short-lived.

Using a protectionist playbook to get companies to build factories could end up sidelining South-East Asia’s largest economy when neighbours are rolling out the red carpet for investors who are relocating from China ahead of Donald Trump’s potential tariffs, analysts said.