Indonesia needs better PR, expert says

JAKARTA (JP): Many of Indonesia's diplomatic battles could be better handled with more active public relations, an expert said yesterday.

The executive director of World Trade Center Jakarta, Erwin Ramedhan, cited the East Timor and National Car policies, two major foreign policy issues currently confronting the government, as examples where better PR handling could help.

"We have always been on the defensive on PR matters, and fall behind other countries," Erwin, a former journalist specializing in politics and foreign affairs, said after an announcement at a news conference about a workshop on public relations.

"Indonesia needs good public relations handling to strengthen its international image and its competitiveness," he said.

The Advanced Public Relations Workshop from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29 is jointly organized by the World Trade Center Jakarta, the World Trade Center Institute and the Association of Indonesia Public Relations Companies (APPRI).

"We all realize how vital PR is today, seen from a political, economic, trade or business point of view," Erwin said at the news conference.

"Many recent events show that there is ample opportunity and room for PR. From the (re)election of U.S. President Bill Clinton to Portugal, East Timor, South Africa and Indonesia, and even the National Car policy -- all have required PR work," he said.

Erwin said that in this era of globalization, information flowed very rapidly and freely.

"It's the task of PR officers to handle information that benefits our country and companies," he said.

Erwin lamented that Indonesia has been slow in catching up with the "information society" era, describing the country's present situation as a "pre-information society".

He said Indonesian business executives make poor readers, many were lazy and did not even read newspapers.

People abroad really appreciate information, he said.

He recalled seeing foreigners at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport buying newspapers and tearing out pages that had information which they needed.

Erwin said Indonesia was even falling behind its neighbors, like Malaysia and the Philippines.

Malaysia recently began teaching primary school students how to use the Internet and gave 1,800 teachers Internet lessons, he said.

APPRI secretary-general Magdalena Wenas said the workshop was intended to improve the professionalism and skills of local PR officers in anticipation of a possible invasion by foreign PR consultants in the advent of a free-trade era in the region.

"Indonesian PR people have to improve their managerial skills," Magdalena said.

She also said the workshop would try to correct the misperception that public relations work did not require great skills.

"Public relations people need analytical skills to deal with the range of circumstances they face and to promote a good corporate image for their clients," she said.

Established in 1987, APPRI has 60 independent public relations companies in its association. (08)