Why Human Resources are the Most Important

There are many factors that influence level of prosperity in a country, and one of the most important things is human resource quality. That is the opinion of Sukanto Tanoto, the owner of Royal Golden Eagle Group that comprises of many successful companies in several countries. In Indonesia, he is famous as the owner of Asian Agri, a palm oil company famous for providing crude palm oil supply for local and international businesses.

According to him, while natural resources are important for a country’s industry, human resources hold more important roles. Good human resources will turn natural resources into sources of prosperity in efficient ways.

Education Important to Create Good Human Resources

As an owner of a palm oil company, Sukanto Tanoto thinks that natural resources will not bring any goodness if there are no high quality human resources that make use of them. Therefore, many of his CSR programs are related to education and training, both for the farmers and local communities around the company area. He believes that educating and training farmers, including the independent plasma farmers that are close with the company facilities, will bring more benefits to the company in the future.

Some of his programs are, such as: creating Asian Agri training center for local farmers, conducting training programs for plasma farmers, supporting education activities around local areas, fixing and developing local schools, and helping local children to go to school and earn scholarships. These are programs specifically chosen to emphasize the importance of education aspect in growing community economy, which finally will have impact on national prosperity.

Scholarships and Funding to Create better Human Resources

As a successful businessman who earned his wealth from self-learning (he stopped attending school at 17), Sukanto Tanoto realized that education will create better human resource quality and also give them better opportunities in the future. This is why he created scholarship, grant and funding program for students and lecturers, not only in Indonesia but also in other countries such as Singapore and China. His scholarships have helped many students continuing their education, and some of the scholarship recipients are also involved in his giving-back activities and events.

For Sukanto Tanoto, spending money to create high quality human resources is important for the long run, because high quality human resource gives more benefits to the company, which impacts on the national prosperity. Education, therefore, is the best investment someone can make for success, including the owner of multinational company.