Grab Persuaded To Invest In Recycled Cell Phones In Indonesia

Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Ministry of Industry)

JAKARTA - Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that Grab has expressed its interest in investing in remanufacturing mobile phones or recycling old cell phones. This is the result of the meeting between the Minister of Industry, Agus, and Grab on a series of agendas to attend the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

"I have also spoken with Grab. They have an intention to invest in remanufacturing mobile phones that are relatively old or damaged, which will later become new mobile phones, ”he said in Jakarta, Sunday, January 26.

The Minister of Industry hopes that Grab's investment can support the needs of the Indonesian people in readiness to enter industrial development 4.0. Because, in that era, one of the things needed was the use of digital communication technology such as cell phones.

“The domestic mobile phone industry has experienced a fairly rapid growth in the number of production during the last five years. This is inseparable from the government's efforts to continue to spur development in the telecommunications and informatics sector, "he explained.

Based on the records of the Ministry of Industry, the Handphone, Computer and Tablet (HKT) industry is one of the strategic sectors which in its development shows an increasing trend and contributes positively to the national economy. Data in 2018 shows that the domestic HKT industry was able to produce as many as 74.7 million units, an increase of 23 percent from 2017 which produced around 60.5 million units.

Meanwhile, from the side of the trade balance, HKT products showed a positive trend, with the record that exports in the January-August 2019 period amounted to US $ 333.8 million, higher than imports in the same period valued at US $ 145.4 million.

As the sector develops, Agus emphasized, the government is determined to provide protection for the HKT industry in the country, including its users. This is also in line with efforts to suppress the entry of illegal cellphones into Indonesia which have the potential to cause losses to the state. In order to realize this goal, three ministerial regulations were made.

"Therefore, the government issued a policy on International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), which will protect our industry and market from black market goods. In addition, customers will be guaranteed quality products, "he said.

Responding to Grab's investment plan to remanufacture cellphones in Indonesia, President of Grab Indonesia Ridzki Kramadibrata explained that the remanufacturing of cellphones in question is to produce more affordable mobile phones in the community to increase the potential of the digital economy in Indonesia which is projected to reach 100 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, Group CEO and Co-founder of Grab, Anthony Tan said, Grab has contributed to the development of two developing industry guidelines, namely the economic platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. He expressed this in an event themed "Unlocking Technology for Good" on the sidelines of WEF 2020 activities.

"We are proactively committed to a series of main principles on a good platform work process and the application of AI technology, and hope that this will benefit the government and other companies to start collaborating in solving this problem," said Anthony.