Eka Tjipta Widjaja

Who is Eka Tjipta Widjaja?

Eka Tjipta Widjaja is the founder of the Sinar Mas Group, which was one of the largest conglomerates during the Indonesian New Order period. His flagship bank, BII or Bank International Indonesia, bankrolled many of his other ventures that made him at one time the king of copra. The Sinar Mas Group also owns the Singaporean-listed Asian Pulp and Paper, a company that has been convicted of being involved in illegal logging in Cambodia, Yunnan Province, China, and the illegal felling of over 50 thousand acres of forest in Bukit Tigapuluh national park. Greenpeace now reports that Sinar Mas is felling massive areas of virgin forest in Papua to make room for palm oil plantations. His bank, like many other local banks, went under during the 1997-98 economic crisis with US$9.7 thousand million in the red and was seized by the government.