REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia needs some 12 thousand professional public relations officers to work at different state agencies in the face of the ASEAN Economic Community, which will be launched on December 31, 2015, an official said.

"We will need 12 thousand certified public relations officers or we will lose to fellow ASEAN members," Director General of Public Communication and Information Freddy Tulung said during a seminar here on Tuesday.

He noted that public relations officers play a vital role not only in disseminating information but also in facilitating the government to educate the public.

Furthermore, the government is aware that the public has different levels of education.

"Therefore, we will recruit professional public relations officers to prepare the public through educational programs in public rooms," he said.

The number of public relations officers in government agencies has dropped drastically since the dissolution of the Information Ministry, he pointed out.

He added that the number of public relations officers has fallen sharply to 1,400 from 10,000.

"The number of certified public relations officers is also very small. Their number runs into several hundred," he observed.

According to him, the ministry will groom 12 thousand certified public relations officers in five years' time. "They will be recruited from among the existing officers, civil servants wishing to change their job, and fresh graduates," he revealed.

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