Canada’s RIM Sets Up Shop in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Shirley Christie | November 09, 2010

Jakarta. Research in Motion announced on Tuesday that it was establishing an Indonesian subsidiary, a move aimed at providing marketing support for its wildly popular BlackBerry smartphones and to comply with local law, following the establishment of a similar unit in Singapore four years ago.

A woman using a Blackberry in front of Blackberry
banner  at a shopping mall in Jakarta, in this file photo.
BlackBerry's parent company Research In Motion is
setting up an  Indonesian subsidiary.
(JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno)

“I’m here because Indonesia matters a lot to Canada as a trading partner in the G-20,’’ Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in Jakarta on Tuesday at a ceremony to unveil Research In Motion Indonesia.

“RIM is a very important Canadian-based company, and has now become a significant player here in Indonesia.”

Gregory Wade, RIM’s managing director for Southeast Asia, said the establishment of the local unit was a milestone and a testament to its long-term commitment and investment in Indonesia.

“Thanks for the support and approval of the [Investment Coordinating Board] to incorporate RIM Indonesia,” he said.

The establishment of RIM’s marketing office in Southeast Asia’s largest economy comes after government officials expressed concerns over the company’s compliance with Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE).

Tifatul Sembiring, communication and information minister, said in September that the Canadian company should establish a database center and server in Indonesia to meet legal requirements.

Tifatul said the center would allow authorities to conduct lawful interceptions of e-mail and other messages, and the leasing of bandwidth for the servers would contribute revenue.

Other nations, such as India, have threatened to discontinue BlackBerry service because of security concerns.

The ITE also stipulates all phone producers must open an after-sales office if they want to sell products in Indonesia, a condition RIM met in August.

There are 1.5 million BlackBerry users in Indonesia, around 7.1 percent of the 21 million global users of the smartphones, said Mike Kirkup, RIM director for developer relations.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, operates offices in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

RIM Indonesia has three domestic distributors for its handsets: Teletama Artha Mandiri, Comtech Cellular and Selular Media Infotama.

Daniel Tumiwa, head of business development at 7 Langit, a BlackBerry alliance member, praised the opening of the unit, saying the time was right because other players, such as Apple, were entering Indonesia’s lucrative market.