RGE’s Global Indian Community Rallies to Support India’s COVID-19 Fight
Indian employees raise funds to purchase ventilators to ‘send back home’
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 14 May 2021 -The Indian community in the RGE global group of
companies has rallied to answer India's urgent call to support its COVID-19
fight, pooling a total S$676,800 (US$507,000) in donations for the procurement
of 40 Advanced MedTech Alpha Ventilators and 36 Yuwell Bi-level Positive Airway
Pressure machines.
From left: Mr Ratnesh Bedi, PO&G President;
His Excellency Mr P. Kumaran, High Commissioner of India; Praveen Singhavi,
APRIL Group President.
Delivered to the Government of India via the
High Commission of India in Singapore, the donations join wider global efforts
to help alleviate India's life-saving medical equipment shortage and curb the
spread of the virus in the world's second most populous country. The donations
came from Indian employees from RGE companies' offices across Singapore,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Canada, India and UAE. Founded by Sukanto Tanoto,
RGE manages a group of resource-based manufacturing companies with global
operations.
APRIL Group President Praveen Singhavi and Pacific Oil & Gas (PO&G) President Ratnesh Bedi met High Commissioner
of India to Singapore, His Excellency Mr P. Kumaran at a symbolic handover today.
Both representatives from the RGE group of companies expressed their hopes for
India's recovery.
His Excellency Mr P. Kumaran said, "The High
Commission of India in Singapore appreciates this very timely assistance from
the Indian community in the RGE group of companies. This act of solidarity,
demonstrated here in Singapore, shows that we are all equally and deeply
affected by the crisis, and that the pandemic will end only if it ends
everywhere. We remain hopeful that the situation will improve thanks to greater
support from around the world. We are doing our very best to save lives. We
will overcome this together."
Mr Praveen Singhavi said, "The RGE group of
companies is a diverse global community, and we are all concerned about the difficult
situation India is facing. Since the onset of the global pandemic, we have
worked tirelessly to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees and
the communities in which we operate. Our employees have friends and loved ones
in India, and the RGE Indian community urgently rallied together to make this
meaningful contribution to bolster India's recovery. We are also grateful to be
working with the High Commission of India in Singapore and we sincerely hope
more lives can be saved."
Mr Ratnesh Bedi added, "We have worked and
coordinated with the Indian community from across all RGE business groups to expeditiously
make this heartfelt contribution to India's fight against COVID-19. On behalf
of the Indian community in the RGE group of companies, we are thankful for the
guidance from the High Commission of India in Singapore, and hope our donations
will save more lives. In this interconnected global community, no one is safe
until everyone is safe."
APRIL Group is one of the world's largest pulp
and paper producers with operations in Indonesia. PO&G is an independent
energy resources company with operations in Canada and China. Indian employees
from Apical Group, Asian Agri, Asia Pacific Rayon, and Bracell were
also part of the employee donation drive. These companies are members of the RGE
(Royal Golden Eagle) group of companies.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About RGE
RGE Pte Ltd manages a group of resource-based
manufacturing companies with global operations. Our work ranges from the
upstream, comprising sustainable resource development and harvesting, to
downstream, where our companies create diverse value-added products for the
global market. Our commitment to sustainable development underpins our
operations, as we strive towards what is good for the community, good for the
country, good for climate, good for customer, and good for company.
RGE was founded in 1973. The assets held by RGE
companies today exceed US$20 billion. With more than 60,000 employees, we have
operations in Indonesia, China, Brazil, Spain and Canada and continue to expand
to engage newer markets and communities.