A snail's paced 'sectoral dialogue' process between Pakistan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was lamented, as delegates from the two sides gathered here on Wednesday to discuss ways to make bilateral relations durable.
"The sectoral dialogue status is moving slowly ever since its start-up from July 1993," Dr Junaid Ahmed, Economic Advisor to Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) told "Pakistan-Asean: A Way Forward for Durable Relations" while unveiling the key facts about Pak-Asean.
The KCFR official lamented that the two sides had been acting not beyond signing treaties one after another with their mutual trade volume standing at a meager 0.3 percent of the world. "All we have been doing is gupshup (gossips)," he deplored. Chaired by Lieutenant General Moinuddin Haider (Retd), Chairman KCFR, the interactive conference was attended by the ambassadors/high commissioners from seven Asean countries, including Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam besides other dignitaries representing the two sides.
Dr Junaid, dwelling upon the potential for enhancing Pak-Asean economic relations, suggested that the two sides could achieve unprecedented milestones through promoting 'country specific' trade besides devising active strategies with active involvement of the private sector at all levels.
Other measures, the expert saw worthwhile, included the establishment of business councils, exchange of sector-specific trade and industry delegations, promotion of bilateral participation in trade fairs, holding single country exhibitions in Pakistan, the promotion of country's specific tourism, enhancing people-to-people contact, exchanging study scholarships, embarking on joint academic research projects and promoting economic joint ventures.
According to Dr Junaid, Asean could exploit Pakistan's potential in the fields of English language teaching, textile and textile material for garment industries, construction material like cement, gypsum etc, shipbuilding and defence technology, surgical instruments, sports goods, processed foods and spices etc.
He said a geo-strategically unique location plus favourable demographics of Pakistan could give access to the 10-member Asean not only to the Central Asian Republics but also future economic giant China. Earlier, Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi, Secretary General/CEO KCFR, welcoming the Asean envoys, said some 12 ambassadors from Latin America were also due in this metropolis sometime in October.
He called upon the foreign delegates to consider the possibility of organising Asean Trade Exhibition here on the pattern of Build Asia moot. Talking at length about historical background of the geo-political and economic organisation, Jesus I Yabes, Ambassador of Philippines and Chairman Asean Islamabad Committee, said his region was enjoying a sectoral dialogue partnership with Islamabad. He said Pakistan had also expressed willingness to become a full dialogue partner of Asean, but the request would take some time to be materialised.
Asked if the Association could consider Pakistan for a Free Trade Agreement, as it recently signed with India, the Malaysian ambassador replied that Asean's Jakarta based Secretariat had received no such request from Islamabad yet. In his presidential address, Chairman KCFR Moinuddin Haider took on the poverty-stricken Saarc members who, unlike Asean, had long been entangled with mutual fighting. He said the members of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation were yet set aside their politico-economic differences. Earlier, "Fateha" and one-minute silence was observed to pray for the victims of plane crash in Islamabad. The exchange of mementos brought the seminar to an end.
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