Belinda’s Dedication to Tanoto Foundation

Growing up as a youth denied formal education as Chinese descendant, Sukanto Tanoto established Tanoto Foundation as a mean to help other unfortunate children that cannot continue their educations. Tanoto Foundation has programs to support education by donating to schools, buying them school supplies and teaching equipment, and giving scholarships and research grants for students, teachers and professors. He passed on his foundation to be run by his daughter, Belinda Tanoto, who has the same passion in social causes.

How Belinda and Sukanto Tanoto Run the Foundation

Belinda Tanoto has proven herself as the worthy leader and runner of Tanoto Foundation. She was brought up by her father with lessons about the importance of education, both for self and for the goodness of the country. She is also reminded in daily basis about responsibilities to help the unfortunate in education. Therefore, when Sukanto Tanoto trusted her to run the foundation, she did not refuse and jumped in straight away. Thanks to her father, Belinda also has great concern about 

A graduate from Deerfield College and Wharton, Belinda has resilience, knowledge and instinct to run and develop the foundation, so it can help more people. Under her hands, Tanoto Foundation has become one of scholarship foundations recommended by Indonesian government, and it often works together with the government in various educational and social events. Two exceptional achievements were financial support to build new building for Faculty of Forestry at Gadjah Mada University, and grants to develop organic vegetables and medicinal herbs at Faculty of Science at Universitas Negeri Surakarta.

The foundation is still running several distinctive programs to support education not only in Indonesia, but also in Singapore and China. In fact, Tanoto Foundation has helped building schools and donating school supplies to China, as well as giving scholarships to medical students in Singapore.

Asian Agri Earned Award from Palm Oil Farmer Association

PT Asian Agri, one of Indonesia’s giants in palm oil production, once again proved his contribution to the life of palm oil farmers in Sumatra. Sukanto Tanoto long life commitment to support the life of palm oil farmers made Asian Agri rewarded with award from palm oil farmer association. Asian Agri is considered as very successful in raising the prosperity level and educating palm oil farmers, thanks to its numerous programs such as plasma farm.

Sukanto Tanoto Dedication to Palm Oil Farmers

According to the vice of Minister of Farming, Dr. Rusman Heryawan, Asian Agri is one of palm oil companies that really dedicate to the social and educational programs for palm oil farmers as parts of its corporate social responsibilities. Asian Agri started plasma farming program and initiated PIR TRANS with Indonesian government, which is a program that encourages transmigration and new job opportunities in palm oil farming in remote areas. Also, Asian Agri is considered as the most dedicated company that is always consistent in giving 4 percents of incentive to farmers that give the best quality palm fruits.

Thanks to Asian Agri, palm oil farmers around the facility and company’s plantations get a lot of supports and helps. For example, they manage to increase their life standards, send their children to school, and even get various trainings in plasma farming. Asian Agri also routinely sends farmers to do comparative study program to other successful plantation areas. These programs make farmers feel more confident and experienced, and some have even managed to open their own independent businesses.

Meanwhile, Asian Agris is currently also developing partnership program to start cattle farming. This means that palm oil farmers can even get more means to earn income and increase their experiences in both plants and animal farming. This means that Sukanto Tanoto’s dream of total corporate social responsibilities can happen soon.

Sukanoto Tanoto’s Principles in Educating His Children

A successful family usually has well educated children, but it is more than just good schools to teach children. Sukanto Tanoto, one of Indonesia’s richest people that also made a name in Forbes list, shared his secrets in teaching his children so they became as successful as he is in their own chosen fields. Of course, there are some secrets worth learning from him to every parent about how to educate your children so they can become successful and have good entrepreneurial and business skills.

All four children of Sukanto Tanoto grew to be successful people; the most prominent ones are Andreas Tanoto, who is the next generation of his father’s business, and Belinda Tanoto, who now runs Tanoto Foundation.

How Sukanto Tanoto Raises Children with Characters

In many interviews, Sukanto Tanoto always reveals his secrets in educating his children: always raise children not only with good education inside and outside the house, but give them lessons in characters. For example, not only he sent his children to good school, but he always makes sure they speak with three languages: Indonesian, English and Mandarin, so his children can practice their multilingual abilities and not forget their cultural roots. Sukanto also makes sure they always remember the positive traits of Chinese Indonesians: resilient and have strong sense of achievement.

Even though he is busy, he always tries to spend quality time with his family, whether it is a simple dinner or long holiday. He also always emphasizes about social responsibilities to the less fortunate, especially those who cannot afford education. This is reminiscent of Sukanto’s own younger years that were devoid of formal education because his school was closed by the government.

With good education, good character lesson and advice to always remember their cultural roots, it is no wonder that Sukanto Tanoto’s children grew to be responsible, diligent and smart people in their fields.

Canada’s Woodfibre LNG Ready to Export Liquefied Gas to Asia

Singapore-based Woodfibre LNG branch in Canada is ready to export the liquefied gas from British Columbia to Asia, starting from the beginning of year 2017. Sukanto Tanoto, the head of the company, has been struggling to make his company in Canada recognized as one of potential exporters of liquefied gas from the sites in British Columbia terrain. Now, the letter of intent between the company and British Columbia has been agreed and signed.

Sukanto Tanoto’s Company is the First LNG Exporter in British Columbia

The lead director of Woodfibre LNG, Imelda Tanoto (daughter of Sukanto Tanoto) stated that this signing of letter of intent has made Woodfibre as the first LNG exporter in British Columbia, Canada. This is an important achievement for the company, since Woodfibre has been underestimated among other similar companies in reaching the LNG exporting goal from British Columbia.

The plan is to export about 2 million tones of liquefied gas every year, and the first investment will be about $2 billion. While the first export will be started in year 2017, the first investment bill proposal will be extracted in year 2015. This means that the company has short time to prepare for its first successful proposal to be exporter of LNG from British Columbia, and the export will be focused on Asia.

Woodfibre other Plans in Canada

Sukanto Tanoto has been planned to increase the gas export to Asia through his Canadian gas company, improving energy sources Asian countries need to fulfill its growing needs for energy. The agreement with British Columbia will also give extra revenues for the locals, as well as providing more job opportunities for local people.

Also, the company plans to build new LNG facilities at old and defunct pulp mill facility in Squamish town, providing new revenue sources for the company and locals.

Tanoto Foundation Declared Teacher as a Nation’s Front Liner

As the founder of Tanoto Foundation and someone who did not get formal education when he was young, Sukanto Tanoto is a man that put education as one of the most important priorities in the foundation’s projects. His principle was proven again in another book discussion event in Yogyakarta on June 25th, in which his son, Anderson Tanoto, came to discuss about two educational related books created by the foundation.

Sukanto Tanoto’s View about Teachers

The book discussion was done in Yogyakarta, at Sanggar Anak Alam in Nitripayan, Yogyakarta, and attended by about 150 education experts and teachers. Anderson Tanoto, the son of Sukanto Tanoto who is also the member of Board of Trustee, appeared as one of the guest speakers. In two books written by the foundation, Oase Pendidikan di Indonesia (Indonesia’s Oasis of Education) and Menjadi Sekolah Terbaik (Be the Best School), Sukanto Tanoto shared his views about teachers in Indonesia, which reflect the basic principles of his foundation.

According to Anderson Tanoto, teachers in Indonesia are still not distributed well to all schools in Indonesia, including in remote areas. Besides, many teachers in small villages and remote areas do not have access to study materials and training to improve their own teaching skills. This makes many students in Indonesia must endure lessons delivered by inexperienced teachers who never upgrade their teaching skills.

Teaching Skill is Important for Learning Process

The book discussion event also discussed about the importance of giving teaching skills to teachers, whether in urban areas, rural areas or remote areas. Good teaching skills will not only help teachers to deliver lessons better, but also form positive mentality in children and youths so they never stop to be active learners. This is why Sukanto Tanoto’s foundation also has its own program to fund teachers and researchers. Tanoto Foundation never stops contributing for education in Indonesia, and educating teachers is the key for better nation.

The founder and chairman of RGE, oversees companies in the manufacturing and energy sectors

An Overview of Sateri International and Asia Symbol

Over the course of his career, visionary and entrepreneur Sukanto Tanoto has established himself as a prominent business leader in Asia and beyond. He currently serves as the chairman of RGE, a global group of companies with resources-based manufacturing operations throughout China, Brazil, and Indonesia. RGE has corporate offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Nanjing, and Jakarta. Following is a brief overview of two of the companies overseen by Sukanto Tanoto and RGE.

Sateri International: One of the biggest producers of cellulose in the world, Sateri International offers products such as viscose staple fiber and high-purity dissolving wood pulp, which play an integral role in the production of eyeglass frames, baby wipes, pharmaceuticals, and sausage casings. Sateri hosts its upstream operations on a secure renewable plantation in Brazil that plants and grows eucalyptus trees for high-purity dissolving wood pulp. Every year, Sateri production facilities in Brazil produce nearly 500,000 metric tons of dissolving wood pulp. In the same vein, the company’s viscose staple fiber mill in China has an annual design capacity of 160,000 metric tons. Throughout all of its activities, Sateri is firmly dedicated to sustainability and social responsibility. The company uses only renewable plantation trees in its products and employs environmentally responsible policies and procedures.

Asia Symbol: One of the top global producers of paper and pulp, Asia Symbol has operated in China’s Guangdong and Shandong provinces for nearly a decade. The company produces as much as 450,000 tons of fine paper and 1.5 million tons of pulp every year that it sells to more than 20 countries around the globe. Asia Symbol is host to the largest single pulp production line in the world, featuring some of the latest advancements in manufacturing technology. As with all of the other companies owned by Sukanto Tanoto and RGE, Asia Symbol is dedicated to employing sustainable development and manufacturing processes.

In a recent article released on 10th July 2014 by Business Times about the top 10 Singapore-based billionaires, Sukanto Tanoto with Royal Golden Eagle ranked 5th with US$2.3billion under his name. Another commodity player on the list is Wilmar International's Kuok Khoon Hong, who takes fourth place with US$2.4 billion and Philip Ng, the chief executive of Far East Organization takes the top position. Read here for full article by Business Times.

Successful Man in Academic and Business

Realizing his dream to own a business empire with a total asset of billions of dollars does not stop Sukanto Tanoto in pursuing his interest in education. He currently shows his integration and dedication to education by receiving highest honor from Wharton School. This Dean’s medal is given to Mr. Sukanto as a token of recognition of individual contributions do to his great participation and role in improving global economy and efforts to improve the quality of life for people around the world.

Never Stop Learning

According to Wharton School Dean Thomas S Roberts, this Dean's Medal award recognizes outstanding achievements of today's business leaders. It combines the three pillars of Wharton, namely, social impact, innovation and the existence of global scope.

Although young Sukanto was unable to study formally in an education institution, but he never gave up his will to learn. Mr. Tanoto believes that a successful business is not enough. A great businessperson should apply sustainability principle in doing the business, since it can show serious commitment in promoting local economy or even the world’s economic community. In his speech, Mr. Tanoto stated that there are main principles that should be followed, so the business can bring good to the community, the country, and the company itself.

Commitment for education

His commitment to help improving educationquality is also proved by funding a Planetarium and Theater in Deerfield, MA, which is named after him; Tanoto Planetarium and Digital Theater. Before that, Mr. Tanoto also gave donation to HKUST to establish a Business Center. Every two or three weeks, he takes some time off and attends short courses in Harvard, Tokyo, and London School of Economic.

Sukanto Tanoto’s desire to share does not stop there. The man who likes to read here is now planning to launch a book on how entrepreneurs can survive through the crises. In order to complete his goal, he stated to give serious consideration in doing research how European and American as well as the Chinese businessmen get through the problem during World War, or dealing with Communist Regime. To broaden his knowledge, Mr. Tanoto never stops learning.  

Things You Can Learn from the Visionary

Do you have great desire to be a successful entrepreneur? Well, you need to learn the business attitude from the best. Successful in running his businesses that play in various sectors, Sukanto Tanoto is among the richest Indonesian with total asset up to US $2.8 billion. The main business vehicle of Sukanto Tanoto’s kingdom is Raja Garuda Mas International, with various business activities, ranging from paper, palm oil, construction, and energy production. The following are some main factors you have to have by learning from SukantoTanoto.

Keeping an Eye to every Business Opportunity

Mr. Tanoto realized that Indonesia has huge disadvantages by importing logs from abroad. Why should you buy if you can produce it yourself? He learned this lesson after pay attention to the number of logs exported to Japan and Taiwan, and the imported back in higher price. Thus, he started to establish his own plywood company, Raja Garuda Mas in 1973.

Deliver what You Promised

It is important to keep the trust from the customers. By the time Mr. Tanoto decided to build his own plywood company, he asked for permission from Minister of Industries to establish the factory, and the process was done in 10 months only, or 4 months faster than the initial plan.

Education is Priority

We should agree to this idea. Education plays important role in shaping your knowledge and capability. Mr. Tanoto understands this factor, and despite his inability to study in formal school, he learned formal Bahasa Indonesia and his English skill through dictionary and American magazines. When his first company was established, he did not necessarily felt satisfy, and decided to pursue his formal education by studying management course abroad.

Giving Back to Society

Once you achieve your success story, remember to realize the importance of human development. In concern to this matter, Tanoto Sukanto and his family established Tanoto Foundation in 2001, with the purpose to help improve human resources development. This foundation focuses primarily on education, healthcare, and disaster relief. It has given scholarships to students with excellent academic performance.

Imelda and Andre Shared the Story behind Tanoto Foundation

It all begins in 2001, when the first time of Tanoto Foundation established. Now, the children of the family, Imelda, Andre, and Anderson Tanoto are trusted to continue their parent’s vision in managing the foundation. Since the family is used to do social activities, it is not hard for Imelda and Andre Tanoto to manage and improve the social purpose of the foundation. Since their young age, the family is frequently celebrated member of the family’s birthday with orphans and shared the joy and gifts with the unfortunates.

Family’s responsibility for the society

The establishment of Tanoto Foundation now allows the family to do charity work in more organized manner, and more targeted in the allocation of funds. All funds are generated from the family themselves, because each of Tanoto’s company has its own social programs (Corporate Social Responsibility / CSR).

As we already know, Tanoto Foundation has donated generous number of funds to support the education in Indonesia. Why education? When being asked with that question, Andre stated that in Indonesia, there are many poor children, who cannot continue their formal study. This also reflects Sukanto Tanoto’s past, where he could not able to finish his study. It is a long-term investment, as he believes that education can break the chain of poverty, and so people and see their brighter future.

Family’s Commitment to develop human resource

In their early involvement in the foundation management, Imelda and Andre focused on its role in supporting human development of Indonesia, so that its role can serve more benefits towards the community in need. The Tanoto family takes its role as fund provider. This role is separated from the family business, and it focuses to help unfortunate people, which also need to be supported by the government and the community itself. Imelda stated that although this foundation does not generate any profit for the business, but the family is willing to enhance the country’s development from the people in great sincerity and honesty.