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aiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group '€” the holding company for the world'€™s biggest electronics manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. '€” says it will kick off its business operations next year.

Terry TM Gou, chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Precision, said the company had finalized talks with several local partners as well as the government, particularly on issues regarding local regulations.

'€œI promise that whatever happens, we will start operating next year. Whether it'€™s a big plant or component plant, we will start in 2014,'€ he told reporters on Monday evening on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

Gou, however, declined to elaborate on investment figures.

Foxconn '€” Hon Hai Precision Industry'€™s trading name '€” will not only manufacture cell phones but will also a wide array of consumer electronic products in Indonesia, which Gou described as '€œa good place to invest in 10 to 30 years'€.

He said the firm aimed to bring the whole supply chain in the electronics industry to Indonesia and transfer technology, not merely manufacture goods.

Foxconn produces 40 percent of the world'€™s electronics goods for major global brands, such as Apple and Dell, Nokia, BlackBerry Ltd and Motorola.

Indonesia might serve as Foxconn'€™s production base in Southeast Asia in the long-term, according to Gou.

Government officials announced last year that Foxconn would gradually invest up to US$10 billion in Indonesia. The plan, set to be executed late last year, however, was delayed.

Simon CP Hsing, spokesman for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., said that negotiations, which started 18 months ago, had been stalled due to higher tariffs on imported cell phone components compared to fully built-up cell phones and the search for suitable local partners.

'€œWe have to build the system and try to bring the supply chain to the country. That'€™s why it is certainly taking longer,'€ he said.

Hsing was upbeat that talks with local partners would be concluded by the end of this year, but declined to mention names.

In response to the concerns raised by Foxconn, Industry Minister MS Hidayat said that his ministry would take the necessary steps to facilitate its investment.

'€œFoxconn also requests the Industry Ministry to engage in research because it is done in China. We are assessing the possibility internally,'€ Hidayat told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier, the government revealed that Foxconn had signed a business agreement with leading local cell phone distributor and retailer PT Erajaya Swasembada to manufacture and sell cell phones and tablets nationwide.

Apart from distributing prominent brands such as BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung, Erajaya currently sells cell phones under its own brand, Venera, manufactured by overseas contract makers in China and Taiwan.

The potential sizeable investment from Foxconn comes amid the government'€™s attempt to spur the growth of its high-technology industry and downstream industry in general, shifting its dependence on natural resources exploitation.

Foxconn Technology Group came under fire for a series of suicides and accidents since 2010 in its facilities in China.

In its third report, the Fair Labor Association said Foxconn had resolved 98 percent of the issues raised in the initial investigation, including cutting working hours and overtime, improving health and safety and increasing union participation, Reuters reported on May 17. The company employs more than 1 million people at its China plants.

Apple became the first tech firm to join the Washington-based FLA in 2012.