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John Clements Sponsors 1st ARUPS Congress
The Congress was officially opened on August 1, 2006, by Ir. Aburizal Bakrie, the Coordinator Minister of the People's Welfare of Republic of Indonesia. He stated that government budget for psychological activities in handling human problems in Indonesia is still small, but he agreed to increase its allocation in the budget of the following year. He also asked the Indonesian Psychology Association to be more active in media, so the profession will be better understood. Mr. Aburizal expressed pride in the achievements of the association to unify ASEAN countries through the congress.
Several workshops were held during the two-day congress, including “Targeting the Right Talent” by Grace Sorongon, Vice President and Managing Director of John Clements. At the close of the congress, Mr. Allan B.I. Bernardo, President of the Psychological Association of the Philippines , was elected President for the next term, and Bangkok , Thailand , was named as the venue for the following congress in 2008. |
Jakarta, August 3, 2006—The Indonesian Psychology Association (HIMPSI) together with other ASEAN psychology associations held the initial ASEAN Regional Union of Psychological Societies (ARUPS) Congress at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta. The congress lasted from July 31 to August 2, 2006 and participated in by Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam . The theme for this initial Congress is “Standardizing, Networking and Improvement the Psychological Services in ASEAN Country”. The attendants are mostly psychology practitioners. 
During the press conference, Dr. Rahmat Ismail, Patricia Sto Tomas and Andi Mohammad Hatta spoke to around 20 journalists from print and electronic media to discuss the Congress's intent to encourage cooperation between the communities of psychologists in the ASEAN region and to enhance their contribution to the development of their own countries. 
