ASEAN Public Relations Strengthen Regional Structure

Badung (Antara Bali) - Public relations and communication are keys to obtain public understanding and participation in order to strengthen the regional organization's position at the global level, Director General of Public Information and Communication at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Rosarita Niken Widiastuti, stated here on Wednesday.

Niken delivered the remarks at the closing ceremony of Call For Abstract/Posters On ASEAN Public Relations Conference held by the ASEAN Public Relations Network (APRN) and the Global Alliance of Public Relations and Communication Management (GA) in Badung, Bali, from Sept 20 to 22, 2017.

The discussion is part of the First ASEAN Public Relations Regional Conference in conjunction with ASEAN's 50th anniversary.

"This conference is certainly relevant to our communication in defining ASEAN, its aspirations, and what distinguishes it from other regional grouping," Niken stated.

According to her, the number of topics which are discussed in the conference are closely related to the development of ASEAN, which is now progressing to position itself among global communities.

"Indonesia, as the founding father of ASEAN, clearly has a strong and competitive position because of its demographic and geographic aspects, which are among the most abundant and rich in the region," added Niken.

The first ASEAN Conference brought together international delegations, from academics and practitioners, to discuss a number of issues, specifically about the participation of ASEAN in global arena.

Under the theme "Communicating ASEAN in Global Competitiveness,", the speakers and participants will explore the journey of ASEAN towards the next milestone with the approach of public relations theories.(*)