Indian employees raise funds to purchase ventilators to ‘send back home’

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach^[1] - 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^[2] President Praveen Singhavi and Pacific Oil & Gas (PO&G)^[3] 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^[4], Asian Agri^[5], Asia Pacific Rayon^[6], and Bracell^[7] were also part of the employee donation drive. These companies are members of the RGE (Royal Golden Eagle) group of companies.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} APRIL Group (www.aprilasia.com)
3. ^{^} Pacific Oil & Gas (PO&G) (www.po-and-g.com)
4. ^{^} Apical Group (www.apicalgroup.com)
5. ^{^} Asian Agri (www.asianagri.com)
6. ^{^} Asia Pacific Rayon (www.aprayon.com)
7. ^{^} Bracell (www.bracell.com)