The Scholar’s Story: Why A Tanoto Scholarship Holder Joined Sukanto Tanoto’s APRIL

Sukanto Tanoto is one of the most successful businessmen in Indonesia. The billionaire entrepreneur is chairman of RGE, the global resource-manufacturing giant that manages companies such as APRIL, Sateri, and Pacific Oil and Gas. With over 60,000 employees and 18 billion dollars in assets, Sukanto Tanoto is undoubtedly one of the industry’s biggest names.

Sukanto Tanoto: Not just a businessman

Fifty years into the business, the 68 year-old is as passionate as ever. Not just about his business either. Sukanto Tanoto has invested a significant amount of time and resources into his other passion – philanthropy. The keen philanthropist started Tanoto Foundation with his wife Tinah Bingei Tanoto back in 1981. Today, they continue to alleviate poverty through the education, empowerment, and enhancement of quality of lives. The foundation is also bigger, and more active than ever. Beyond building schools, the foundation gives out scholarships, and funds medical research to push the frontiers of healthcare processes.

A scholarship changed his life

The good work done by Sukanto Tanoto’s foundation is undeniable, benefitting many in the community. One such beneficiary of the foundation’s help is Ray Wijaya. Born to a motor rickshaw driver, the Tanoto Scholarship alumnus graduated from the University of Sumatra in 2016 with a degree in Agriculture. The association with Sukanto Tanoto doesn’t end there either. Bought over not just by Sukanto Tanoto’s generosity, he was enamoured of the businessman’s philosophy of creating shared value. Today, he works for PT RAPP, the Indonesian subsidiary of Sukanto Tanoto’s pulp and paper giant APRIL, as a personal assistant to President Director Rudi Fajar.

It is a dream for Ray, who has managed to ease his family’s burden with a Tanoto Foundation scholarship. More than that, he has found a company he truly enjoys working for. Not only do his values align with the company’s, PT RAPP also takes great care of their employees by sending them for training. As he says, “For me, PT RAPP is not only concerned with profit, but also always wants to grow with the surrounding community. I also want to grow like this company.”