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Letter: RIM’s commitment to RI’s high-tech

“Love Indonesia” is more than an award winning BlackBerry app that has been downloaded by more than half a million customers

The Jakarta Post
Thu, October 20, 2011

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Letter: RIM’s commitment to RI’s high-tech

“Love Indonesia” is more than an award winning BlackBerry app that has been downloaded by more than half a million customers. It is also a great example of how local Indonesian application developers and entrepreneurs are emerging as an important part of a new and growing sector of the economy. Apps like “Love Indonesia” are at the heart of a new idea that we at Research In Motion (RIM) are working on with several departments within the Indonesian government. The idea is for RIM to further invest in Indonesia and collaborate closely with government ministries and higher education institutions, in order to ultimately help Indonesian developers build applications that can be marketed locally and exported around the world.

BlackBerry loves Indonesia and Indonesians clearly love their BBM and BlackBerry smartphones. In fact, senior government leadership recently commented that BlackBerry is helping “improve life” in Indonesia! Combining this with the knowledge and talent of Indonesian developers, we believe that app development is an area where Indonesia can excel. Early this year we broke new ground in hosting the first BlackBerry DevCon outside of North America, here in Indonesia, and it was one of the largest and most successful ever. Now, we are working on a new investment program that would take our university and developer relationships in Indonesia to a new level. We want to spark the creation of new entrepreneurial jobs and applications.

And where better for RIM to do this than in Indonesia, which is an important growing market in Southeast Asia? Today, through the global BlackBerry network, Indonesian app developers can reach a global audience of over 70 million customers, who currently download over 3 million apps a day. That’s an attractive market for any new startup enterprise.

It’s not just that consumers are downloading applications such as games or specialized information. Look at the diverse use of BlackBerry here in Indonesia. Rural farmers are using BlackBerry to maximize their crop values, doctors in Surabaya are using BBM and apps on BlackBerry to improve patient care, as well as organizations such as Asosiasi Ibu Menyusui Indonesia (AIMI) who are using BlackBerry to communicate and counsel breast-feeding mothers.

RIM is committed to Indonesia and we see great potential by working together and investing in the country for long-term mutual success. Indonesia’s enthusiasm for BlackBerry has already enabled us to create a significant number of new jobs and business activities through our carrier and distribution partners, the near 50 BlackBerry Expert Centers that offer comprehensive after-sales support and the collection of authorized BlackBerry retail stores. Over the past five years, we have also been sourcing from accessory manufacturing partners here in Indonesia.

Recently, there has been some debate and confusion in the local media about the manufacturing of BlackBerry smartphones. In our sector, smartphones and tablets are manufactured globally for our company by a select number of highly specialized subcontractors. While none of these specialized companies have yet to gain experience making smartphones for RIM (or any of our competitors) in Indonesia, with the implementation of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI), RIM is confident that the Indonesian government is improving their infrastructure and human capital capabilities.

In the meantime, the biggest opportunity to create high value, well educated and fast growing jobs in Indonesia is in the area of applications development. A new RIM centre closely aligned with key Indonesian universities and application developers would help create new opportunities for both RIM and Indonesia and help to improve life in Indonesia.  RIM is working closely with the Government of Indonesia on these important issues to ensure that BlackBerry’s presence in Indonesia will help create an environment where more Indonesian app developers are acknowledged internationally, like the creators of ‘Love Indonesia’.  This will provide many benefits to the Indonesian people for a long time to come.
 
We look forward celebrating the rewards of this investment in Indonesia!


Gregory Wade
Regional Managing Director, East Asia
Research In Motion (RIM) - creator of BlackBerry

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