Our Founder
Kedaung Group was founded by Dr Agus Nursalim, a Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist whose life and career would go on to leave a lasting impact on manufacturing, trade, and philanthropy across the region. Born in 1931 on a small island off northern Sumatra, he came from humble beginnings. At the age of 13, after the passing of his father, he sold the family’s only remaining asset, a fishing net, and began the entrepreneurial journey that would ultimately lead to the establishment of Kedaung Group.
Long before the rise of Kedaung Group, Dr Agus Nursalim had already built his early business experience through trade and industry. Beginning in tableware trading and small-scale enterprise, he developed a deep understanding of market demand, manufacturing potential, and the importance of building industrial capacity rather than relying solely on commerce. In 1969, that vision culminated in the establishment of Indonesia’s first glass tableware manufacturing facility in Jakarta, the foundation upon which Kedaung Group would be built.
His ambitions, however, extended far beyond Indonesia. In 1984, Dr Agus Nursalim made a landmark US$12 million investment in Tianjin Jiatai Ceramics in the Tianjin Economic Development Zone. This was not only the zone’s first foreign-funded enterprise, but also, at the time, its single largest foreign-invested project. In the years that followed, he went on to establish more than 30 enterprises across China, becoming widely recognised as one of the pioneering overseas Chinese investors to bring capital, technology, and industrial expertise into the country during its early reform era.
Dr Agus Nursalim’s achievements were never confined to business alone. He was also a committed philanthropist whose charitable work spanned education, community development, and social welfare. In 1986, he funded the establishment of Lin Qi-en Memorial Secondary School in honour of his late father, creating an institution that would go on to educate generations of students. Over the course of his life, he received numerous honours in recognition of both his philanthropy and wider contributions, including honorary citizenships from Tianjin, Shandong Province, and Shanwei City, as well as the title of “Outstanding Philanthropist” at the Southern Charity Gala in 2010.
One of the most distinctive expressions of his values was his commitment to dignity in employment. After visiting a factory in Japan and seeing disabled workers productively employed in an industrial setting, he returned to Indonesia and established a Kedaung ceramic-tile facility specifically structured to employ disabled workers, adapting machinery and factory conditions to suit those with mobility challenges. This was the first initiative of its kind in Indonesia, pioneering a new model of inclusive industrial employment and reflecting his deeply held conviction that industry should create not only profit, but also opportunity, dignity, and inclusion.
Beyond Kedaung Group, Dr Agus Nursalim was also involved in several high-profile ventures, including the co-founding of Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, today one of Southeast Asia’s most prominent private hospitals. Yet despite the scale of his business success, those closest to him remembered him not only for what he built, but for the principles by which he lived: discipline, resilience, generosity, and a profound sense of responsibility to the people whose livelihoods depended on the enterprises he created.
Dr Agus Nursalim passed away in Singapore in 2012. Before his passing, he reminded his family that his success had been built together with his workers, and that the businesses he created carried a responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the families who depended on them. Today, while Kedaung Group is led by the next generation, his legacy remains deeply embedded in its identity, not only in the scale of the Group he founded, but in the values of responsibility, endurance, and long-term vision that continue to guide it.