Cargill Receives Best Investor Award from West Kalimantan Government

This is the third time in consecutive years that Cargill has been presented with the Best Investor award in Indonesia. The first was in 2010 for the contributions of its animal nutrition business to the local communities in Sulawesi, followed by the same recognition to Cargill’s palm plantation in South Sumatra, PT Hindoli.

11 Jan 2013 --- The Government of West Kalimantan conferred Cargill with the Best Investor award at a ceremony held on December 28, 2012 in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The inaugural award was presented to PT Harapan Sawit Lestari, Cargill’s oil palm plantation in West Kalimantan, recognizing the company’s achievements in the areas of corporate social responsibility, technology in environmental management, employee-employer initiatives and employment practices, as well as business stability and compliance with regulations.

This is the third time in consecutive years that Cargill has been presented with the Best Investor award in Indonesia. The first was in 2010 for the contributions of its animal nutrition business to the local communities in Sulawesi, followed by the same recognition to Cargill’s palm plantation in South Sumatra, PT Hindoli.

“We are very proud of this honor and recognition by the West Kalimantan government of our efforts in developing and growing a sustainable palm oil business in West Kalimantan. We will continue to invest in and nurture the partnership with our PT Harapan Sawit Lestari smallholders, while intensifying our corporate social responsibility and community development efforts to help improve the lives of the community wherever we can,” said Ong Kee Chau, President Director of PT Harapan Sawit Lestari.

“PT Harapan Sawit Lestari successfully met all assessment criteria established by the auditing team, including corporate social responsibility initiatives; environmentally-friendly technologies; employee engagement; business stability; and regulatory compliance,” said Joko Siswantoro, Head of the Investment Control board, Government of West Kalimantan.

Cargill has been committed to responsible palm oil production in West Kalimantan since 2005, when it acquired PT Harapan Sawit Lestari. Since then, Cargill’s operations in West Kalimantan, consisting PT Harapan Sawit Lestari and PT Indo Sawit Kekal, have expanded to 32,000 ha of responsible oil palm plantation. Cargill is currently working closely with PT Harapan Sawit Lestari smallholders towards Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification.

Even before the establishment of the RSPO principles and criteria, Cargill has had its own policies in place for responsible palm production on their plantations. These include commitments to not plant on high conservation value land; nor develop new plantations on deep peat land or land that would threaten biodiversity.

As part of its commitment to nurturing and developing the community in areas where it operates, Cargill provides free lodging and healthcare to its workers in PT Harapan Sawit Lestari, builds schools and tube wells, and funds healthcare programs and facilities for the community. In November 2012, Cargill officially unveiled a mobile library in the district of Ketapang in Kalimantan. An example of Cargill’s commitment to education for the community, the mobile library provides students from schools within the district with convenient access to a variety of books in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Just last month, Cargill was presented with the Best Plantation Business Partner of the Year award by the government of South Sumatra. The award recognizes Cargill’s successful partnership program with smallholders, which has resulted in significant improvements to the living standards of the farmers, as well as the establishment of effective farmer cooperatives for long-term economic viability.