A firebrand Indonesian government minister who has called on Research In Motion Ltd. RIM-T to block porn access on its BlackBerry smart phones said the country also wanted a slice of the firm’s growing revenue.
Communications and Information Minister Tiffatul Sembiring, in a series of comments made mostly on Twitter, said Indonesia’s 3 million BlackBerry users led to revenue for the Canadian firm of 2.27 trillion rupiah ($251-million U.S.) a year but nothing for the state.
In recent days he has threatened to shut down browser access on BlackBerrys if the firm did not block porn content, and also ordered the company to establish local servers and employ more Indonesians.
But the minister, a savvy social media user but also considered an Islamic conservative, expanded on the threat, Tweeting: “This is for bigger interests – getting a slice of the pie. RIM doesn’t pay any tax to Indonesia, it doesn’t build any network infrastructure.”
RIM, which said on Monday it would filter Indonesian content, gets an increasing share of its revenue from outside North America and Western Europe as it comes under pressure in its most established markets from Apple’s iPhone and devices running Google’s Android operating system.
But the firm has been hit by demands for access to its encrypted data from numerous countries worried about security and social mores – including India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Is it arrogant to remind foreigners to respect the law and regulations in Indonesia?” Mr. Sembiring, known for controversial statements, tweeted to his 168,000 followers. “Is it wrong to ask for a share for Indonesia, for hiring local people, using local content?” he asked, after mocking responses to his views.
Indonesia, an emerging market investor darling last year, is trying to encourage more foreign direct investment and lift corporate tax revenues to reduce reliance on volatile “hot money” flows and to stabilize its long-term finances.
The Indonesian investment board said on Wednesday it expected direct foreign and domestic investment in 2011 to grow 15 per cent from last year to 230 trillion rupiah. Investors are interested in infrastructure, manufacturing and consumer demand.
But uncertain regulations, red tape and rampant graft have in the past often put off Western foreign direct investment.
