Sukanto Tanoto – The RGE Story

RGE Story: From Local to Global

In 1949, the Chen family, who emigrated from Fujian province to North Sumatra, Indonesia, welcomed their eldest son, the first of seven boys. The boy was named Chen Jianghe. The family later changed their Chinese name, “Chen”, to Bahasa Indonesian “Tanoto”, and Chen Jianghe became Sukanto Tanoto.

In 1966, a young Sukanto Tanoto started a spare parts retail business in a rented shophouse with just US$30,000. Their largest customer at the time was Pertamina, the country’s largest state-owned oil company. Sukanto worked 15 hours a day, but all the hard work paid off, and the spare parts business thrived.