TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Apple Inc. plans to build a research and development (R&D) center or as they call it, an innovation center, in the Green Office Park complex at Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) in South Tangerang.

“It will be similar to other innovation centers such as the ones in Silicon Valley and San jose,” said expert staff of the ministry of industry, Sanny Iskandar, on Wednesday, June 21.

The news was announced during the meeting that took place between Industry Minister, Airlangga Hartanto, the Director for Apple South Asia, Michel Coulomb and Government affair of Apple Indonesia, Mirza Natadisastra.

The company with a partially bit apple logo will establish a partnership with BINUS University in managing its IT training. “They will train instructors that will be a part of the innovation center. They picked Bina Nusantara (BINUS) because the university is IT oriented,” said Sanny.

He added that the research center will potentially produce several applications to support the performance of Apple's gadgets and other products.

“Apps nowadays fulfill various needs. Not just for personal use, but also for hospitals and other necessities,” Sanny added.

The Rp1.1 trillion research center will be fully operational on October 2017, and will consist of international and domestic labor forces.

ANTARA