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Sustaining Indonesia’s branding amid the pandemic
More than eight in 10 Indonesians donate money and their rate of volunteering is more than three times the global average.
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Foreigners learn the Indonesian language through songs with local children at Kampung Bahasa Bloombank (Bloombank Language Village) in Ciracas, East Jakarta, during a summer camp on June 23. (Courtesy of/Kampung Bahasa Bloombank)
I
had the opportunity to engage with Indonesian mid-career diplomats in a class setting not so long ago. We exchanged views on many strategic issues and diplomatic efforts to secure Indonesia’s national interest and the meeting was highly rewarding.
One particular issue we discussed at length was the topic of Indonesia’s image overseas. By way of discussing this topic, we also touched on the international perception of Indonesia and national branding.
Lately, the image is being shaken by the labeling of Indonesia as the new epicenter of the pandemic by some news outlets.
The Jakarta Post in its editorial on Aug. 2 said news of travel restrictions for outbound passenger flights from Indonesia and foreigners hastily returning home was bad PR for Indonesia.
These realities do not bode well for public diplomacy efforts to generate a positive perception of Indonesia as a prime destination for tourism and investment.
The question then arises about what course of action Indonesian diplomats should consider in the area of public diplomacy vis-à-vis the challenge of bad PR. Should we wait until such labeling reaches a plateau and only then start a positive campaign or is continuing in the current efforts a better route?
My initial reaction to their query is that while time is of the essence, we cannot afford to let the information space be flooded with negative messages on Indonesia. We could not fathom the price of inaction.
