Why communicators must build relationships before regulations change

As Indonesia’s regulatory environment continues to evolve at speed, corporate affairs leaders are shifting away from reactive crisis communications towards long-term trust building, arguing that strong stakeholder relationships are now as critical as regulatory expertise.

Speaking during a panel discussion at PR Asia Indonesia 2026, senior communications executives from BAT Indonesia, ParagonCorp and PepsiCo Indonesia said organisations can no longer afford to engage regulators only when new rules emerge. Instead, they advocated continuous dialogue, transparency and cross-sector collaboration as the foundation for navigating policy uncertainty.

The discussion comes as businesses across industries face increasingly frequent regulatory changes, from tobacco packaging and food labelling to cosmetic certification, often with compressed implementation timelines.

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Reading between policy signals

For Dian Widyanarti, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at BAT Indonesia, the first challenge is separating public statements from actual policy.

“When we hear a public statement by senior public officials, we learn that it doesn’t necessarily translate into policy immediately,” she said.

Rather than reacting immediately, Widyanarti said her team first seeks clarity from technical government officials to understand the rationale behind potential changes before communicating internally or externally.

She added that this is particularly important for multinational organisations operating in highly regulated sectors, where speculation can quickly reach regional and global headquarters.

Transparency sometimes needs to be radical. Radical means owning our position, owning the things that we don’t know.

Rather than projecting certainty, she argued companies should openly acknowledge information gaps while actively seeking clarification.

Trust built before the crisis

While transparency was a recurring theme throughout the discussion, Astri Wahyuni, director for corporate affairs at ParagonCorp, argued that trust cannot be established during a regulatory crisis.

“Trust in our stakeholders needs to be established beforehand,” she said.

Operating in Indonesia’s fast-moving beauty sector, Wahyuni noted that consumer conversations on digital platforms can rapidly influence regulatory priorities, with issues such as product safety or ingredient concerns quickly attracting government attention.

Instead of viewing consumers, retailers and regulators merely as stakeholders, she said ParagonCorp considers them partners in achieving its broader corporate purpose.

That mindset shifts conversations away from defensive corporate responses towards collaborative problem-solving.

For ParagonCorp, long-term reputation also extends well beyond government relations.

Wahyuni said regulatory changes affect an entire commercial ecosystem, including retailers, online sellers, beauty advisers and consumers, making compliance inseparable from maintaining trust across the value chain.

Building trust with stakeholders is very important, and that’s where our competitive advantage should be in terms of driving and winning in these regulatory changes.

From lobbying to educating

Rather than positioning advocacy as opposition to regulation, the panellists framed it as helping policymakers develop better-informed policies.

Widyanarti argued companies should intervene when proposed regulations lack sufficient evidence or industry understanding.

That advocacy, she stressed, is less about resisting regulation than educating policymakers on operational realities and international best practices.

Similarly, Gabrielle Angriani Johny, director of government affairs, corporate communications and sustainability at PepsiCo Indonesia, said businesses must first understand both the rationale and commercial impact of new regulations before deciding how to engage.

We need to understand how the policy will impact business continuity, which government agencies to talk to, which stakeholders we need to engage, and which associations we need to work with.

She added that many policy issues affect entire industries rather than individual companies, making collective engagement through industry associations increasingly important.

Global strategies, local realities

Another recurring challenge for multinational companies is balancing global communications priorities with Indonesia’s unique regulatory and cultural context.

Johny said PepsiCo’s global scale provides valuable insights from other markets, but local execution ultimately depends on domestic conditions.

“It’s very important to understand the local context. Every country is different.”

She said regional developments, such as policy changes in neighbouring markets, often provide early signals for Indonesian regulators, allowing companies to contribute international perspectives during government consultations.

Widyanarti described corporate affairs teams as the bridge between headquarters and local markets.

While BAT’s global priorities may focus on scientifically supported reduced-risk products, Indonesia’s regulatory environment and cultural relationship with kretek tobacco require different communications approaches.

Rather than rejecting global campaigns outright, Widyanarti said local teams explain contextual risks and propose alternative narratives or timing.

“We don’t bluntly push back, but we provide them with the understanding, the local context and the sensitivities.”

Johny echoed the importance of aligning communications with business priorities, noting that limited local resources require every activity to directly support market objectives.

Relationships beyond regulation

The panel also challenged the assumption that government engagement begins when regulations are announced.

Wahyuni argued organisations should consistently demonstrate how they contribute to society through business operations, CSR programmes and industry collaboration.

“We always want to be part of the solutions,” she said.

“Having that collective voice through associations is, most of the time, more impactful. So we need to focus on our common interests and how we can position ourselves as part of the solutions the government is looking for.”

Johny drew a parallel with personal relationships: “It doesn’t work if you only approach them when you have an issue or when you want something.”

Instead, companies should continuously demonstrate how they contribute to economic growth and community development, allowing trust to develop long before regulatory challenges emerge.

Speed brings new pressures

While acknowledging the government’s efforts to accelerate policymaking, Widyanarti cautioned that faster regulation should not come at the expense of consultation.

Having worked across multiple government administrations, she observed that the current one moves more quickly than previous administrations.

However, she warned that bypassing established consultation processes risks producing regulations that unintentionally harm industries.

“Bypassing the proper processes and overlooking the meaningful participation of the industry in developing or changing regulations could end up harming the industry itself, and this is what we’re trying to avoid together with industry players and associations.”

Her comments tied back to the panel’s broader conclusion: as regulatory volatility increases, successful corporate communications depend less on responding quickly after rules change and more on continuous engagement with stakeholders.

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