Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially opened a National Convention of Public Relations Officers at the State Palace, here, Monday.

"Basically, the role of public relations officers is to promote particular messages in order to build trust and reputation of institutions," President Jokowi noted in his remarks.

PR officers carry out the role without tarnishing the other companies` image by abstaining from spreading hate speech and hoax, he added.

"The Government`s PR officers are tasked with building public trust in the Government without spreading bad things and hoax about others," he noted.

Themed "PR 4.0 - National Challenges and Indonesia`s Reputation," the national convention is organized in Jakarta on December 10-11, 2018, and attended by PR officers, university students, and national prominent figures, among others.

Chairman of the Association of Public Relations Officers (Perhumas) Agung Laksamana remarked that public relations in the era of industry 4.0 calls for a combination of intuition, logic, empathy, emotion, and unlimited creativity.

Those elements cannot be found in technology, such as Artificial Intelligence.

"In the context of hardware, public relations officers must have skill sets that I have mentioned earlier. In the context of software or soal, public relations officers must prioritize the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). If not, he or she will vanish," he emphasized.

Reporting by Agus Salim
Editing by Fardah Assegaf

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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