Sukanto Tanoto – A Philanthropy, Good for PEOPLE, Good for the COUNTRY, Good for the COMPANY

In the meantime, in July 2003, APRIL signed an agreement with the Chinese state-owned enterprise, and two years later, in 2005, APRIL finally took over the mill that would become the largest integrated pulp and paperboard mill in Rizhao, Shandong province, now known as APRIL SSYMB. Today, APRIL SSYMB is China’s first mill to become internationally certified to ISO standards, for quality, environment, health and safety management.

Sukanto Tanoto is also building one of the world’s largest single pulp lines in Rizhao, Shandong province. When it is fully operational, the Rizhao mill will be the largest Bleached Hardwood Kraft pulp producer in China.

With agri-business and pulp and paper forming the core foundations of the RGM Group, sustainability and social responsibility came to the forefront as the Group’s guiding philosophy.

APRIL became the first Indonesian company to publish a Sustainability Report, showcasing its commitment to the Triple Bottomline accountability to People, Planet, Profit. This principle is in tandem with the Sukanto Tanoto’s own philosophy of how a business must always be “Good for the PEOPLE, Good for the COUNTRY, Good for the COMPANY.”

Corporate Social Responsibility had always been an integral part of RGM’s operations in all countries, and activities were already initiated in the early 1970s. RGM and its business groups has built numerous schools, libraries, medical facilities, and places of worship. We have also put in major infrastructure like roads and entire town planning projects including hotels, sports facilities and housing developments, bringing progress and prosperity to local communities.

With businesses flourishing, the Tanoto family began to institutionalise its community programmes under the TANOTO FOUNDATION. The Foundation is now the philanthropic arm of the Tanoto family, and the vehicle for world-wide giving initiatives. All the corporate sustainability programmes of the business groups are now integrated under the Foundation.