Sulaiman is a man with both his feet firmly planted on the ground. Every day, he surveys the operations of his coco peat company, which supplies 200 tonnes of the ecologically friendly, bio-degradable and recyclable material derived from the husk of the coconut per month to APRIL's operations in Riau.

Sulaiman's company, Rifky Pratama Sanjaya, today employs 40 staff, spread across Pangkalan Kerinci and Lampung Province, and is an integral part of APRIL's supply chain. Sulaiman's success story as an entrepreneur is one of many supported by the numerous opportunities created by the Indonesian pulp and paper industry, which collectively contributes 6.7 percent of the country's national manufacturing industry gross domestic product (GDP) and US$ 3.9 billion (non-oil export) to the country's exports.

Medicine is a vessel of hope that improves the lives of millions around the world. Yet, ironically, there exists in medical research a "valley of death" i.e., a lag between the lab bench and the commercialisation of a drug. Exacerbating the lag is often a lack of funding integral for the taking of newly-discovered drugs to the marketplace. One expert keen to avoid this pitfall, is Professor Stuart Cook.

The fasting month, observed by the Muslim-majority Indonesia, often coincides with an increase in demand for blood. Continuing its tradition of contributing to the blood bank supply, APRIL's Indonesian subsidiary PT RAPP recently collaborated with Keluarga Donor Darah (KDD)  to organise a blood donation drive for its Kerinci-based employees.

APRIL is renown amongst customers and suppliers as one of the world’s leading pulp and paper players—one that leverages on technology and innovation to continually improve its operations. What most consumers rarely see, however, is the process by which trees are cultivated from seedlings to paper, the entire spectrum of community development programmes that APRIL provides to its workforce, their families, and the villages surrounding its operations. On a bright and breezy June morning, a group of volunteers and youths from the Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS) and Yale-NUS got to see just that and more, when they visited Pangkalan Kerinci, the heart of APRIL’s operations in Riau, Indonesia.  

In this issue of Inside RGE, we feature the talented RGE employees who have so aptly captured the 4Cs--Good for Community, Good for Country, Good for Climate, Good for Company--in a 2016 photo contest that saw some 500 entries from RGE's global workforce around the world. The winning submissions are proudly featured in the 2017 RGE desktop calendar.

RGE Founder and Chairman Sukanto Tanoto was recently invited by international broadcaster CNBC to share his journey as an entrepreneur in the second season of Lasting Legacy, a programme that explores the secrets behind the success of the world’s leading family businesses and business families.