Jakarta. Industry Minister Saleh Husen inaugurated the start of construction of Samsung Electronics Indonesia’s new $23 million phone assembly plant in the EJIP industrial estate in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, on Tuesday.

The company already produces various electronic devices, such as televisions, audio devices, refrigerators and washing machines, at its manufacturing and assembly plants in the area.

Saleh praised the company’s decision to locate the assembly of semi-knockdown parts of its mobile phones in Indonesia. He said he expected Samsung to develop a full manufacturing plant for mobile phones in due time.

According to an Industry Ministry, the factory, which will be built near Samsung’s other plants in the estate, will be capable of producing between 1 million and 1.5 million smartphones, feature phones and tablets each month.

The plant will occupy 6,000 square meters of land and employ 972 people.

Minister Saleh challenged Apple to follow Samsung’s move. “We want this to encourage other major phone makers like Apple to build production units in Indonesia,” he said.

A youthful population, low smartphone penetration rates and higher disposable incomes make Indonesia an attractive market for smartphone manufacturers like Samsung. Its Galaxy models gained market share in the country even as they aw weaker sales in more established markets.

Samsung Electronics Indonesia has not released any statement about the inauguration on its official website.

GlobeAsia

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