U.S. – Pakistan Relations: Present and Future
June 23, 2023
PCFR Delegation’s Visit to Iran
October 30, 2023U.S. – Pakistan Relations: Present and Future
June 23, 2023PCFR Delegation’s Visit to Iran
October 30, 2023Pakistan – ASEAN Relations: Road to Growth & Prosperity
On September 9, 2023 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 Kuncoro Hadiningrat, Consul General of Indonesia, Mr. Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad, Consul General of Malaysia, Mr. Narut Soontarodom, Consul General of Thailand, Ms. Nguyen Thi Diep Ha, Head of Vietnam Trade Mission, and Dr. Imran Yousuf, Honorary Consul General of Philippines addressed the session.
Mr Zubair Tufail Co-Chief Patron of PCFR welcomed the honorable Consul Generals and all the participants. Mr. Tufail said that nowadays ASEAN is one of the fast-growing platforms founded on the principles of cooperation, amity, and non-interference. He further said that Pakistan has longstanding cooperation with this bloc driven by a number of agreements but the mutually beneficial economic cooperation is yet to achieve the desired results. He recommended that there is a need for an immediate and focused approach to further strengthen the relations between Pakistan and ASEAN.
Dr. June Consul General of Indonesia highlighted the role of ASEAN as a bloc of rapidly and consistently growing economies. He highlighted that ASEAN’s current growth rate which is exceeding the global average offers opportunities for growth and prosperity for all the countries specially for Pakistan in the fields of IT, agriculture, transport, and communication.
Mr. Herman Consul General of Malaysia expressed his value for Pakistan-ASEAN cooperation
on multilateral grounds and the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Pakistan. He particularly appreciated Pakistan’s efforts in creating short diplomatic courses for ASEAN diplomats, a scholarship-based technical assistance program, and the digital payments and financial inclusion program.
In his address, the Consul General of 
Thailand presented a roadmap highlighting the four key areas to achieve active engagement and meaningful cooperation between ASEAN and Pakistan. The blueprint emphasized on political and security cooperation, economic cooperation- especially on the grounds of promoting food security, the people-to-people exchanges and human resource development by via tourism and business interactions, and particularly highlighted the imperative of clean and sustainable future.
Honorary Consul General of Philippines deliberated on the successful growth model of Philippines and welcomed Pakistan to take lessons from its investment-favoring and tourism-friendly growth policies and take initiative to join it $180 billion public-private partnership project, Build, Better and More. In addition to presenting solutions for Pakistan’s financial crisis, he acknowledged Pakistan’s role in helping Philippine’s economy with its trade in textile, pharmaceuticals, and cements that actually has more edge and more benefit for Pakistan.
The head of Vietnam trade mission 
Karachi, specifically shared her thoughts on Pakistan-ASEAN and Pakistan-Vietnam relations. By deliberating on member countries’ lack of competition in Pakistan’s markets, she drew comparison between the trading figures of Pakistan and Vietnam. After mentioning the key Vietnamese exports of Cashew nuts, cinnamon, fish products, synthetic fiber, tea, chemicals, and natural rubber, and the key Pakistani exports of sea food and particularly sport goods, she
highlighted the alarmingly low figures in Pakistan’s trade sectors and identified potentials of bilateral trade.
Ambassador Syed Hasan Habib senior member of PCFR presented the concluding remarks and stressed upon the need to active cooperation between ASEAN and Pakistan. Mr. Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi presented mementos to worthy guests.
