Pakistan Council on Foreign Relations (PCFR) hosted an interactive session on “Pakistan-ASEAN Relations: Road to Growth & Prosperity” in a local hotel in Karachi. Karachi based Consul Generals of ASEAN nations including Dr. June KuncoroHadiningrat, Consul General ofIndonesia, Mr. Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad, Consul General of Malaysia, Mr. NarutSoontarodom, Consul General of Thailand, Ms. Nguyen ThiDiep Ha, Head of Vietnam TradeMission, and Dr. Imran Yousuf, Honorary Consul General of Philippines addressed the session.
MrZubairTufail Co-Chief Patron of PCFR welcomed the honorable Consul Generals and all theparticipants. Mr. Tufail said that nowadays ASEAN is one of the fast-growing platforms foundedon the principles of cooperation, amity, and non-interference. He further said that Pakistan haslongstanding cooperation with this bloc driven by a number of agreements but the mutuallybeneficial economic cooperation is yet to achieve the desired results.
He recommended that thereis a need for an immediate and focused approach to further strengthen the relations betweenPakistan and ASEAN.Dr. June Consul General of Indonesia highlighted the role of ASEAN as a bloc of rapidly andconsistently growing economies. He highlighted that ASEAN’s current growth rate which isexceeding the global average offers opportunities for growth and prosperity for all the countriesspecially for Pakistan in the fields of IT, agriculture, transport, and communication.Mr Herman Consul General of Malaysia expressed his value for Pakistan-ASEAN cooperation onmultilateral grounds and the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Pakistan.
He particularlyappreciated Pakistan’s efforts in creating short diplomatic courses for ASEAN diplomats, ascholarship-based technical assistance program, and the digital payments and financial inclusionprogram.Mr Narut Consul General of Thailand highlighted that there is a need for active engagement andmeaningful cooperation between Pakistan and ASEAN. Mr. Narut highlighted four key areas formutually beneficial cooperation including political and security cooperation, economiccooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and human resource development via tourism andbusiness interactions.
Ms. Nguyen ThiDiep Ha, Head of Vietnam Trade Mission, and Dr. ImranYousuf Consul General of Philippines also shared their thoughts on the subject and emphasizedon the efforts to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and ASEAN across various sectors formutually beneficial gains. Amb Syed Hasan Habib presented concluding remarks while Mr AhsanMukhtar Zubairi presented mementoes to worthy guests.
