The fourth meeting of Asean, Pakistan Joint Sectoral Co-operation Committee (APJSCC) will review on-going co-operation in the field of Trade and Commerce, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Investment and Technical Assistance Programme.
APJSCC, which serves as a mechanism to regulate and oversee the co-operation between the two sides, has so far held three meetings and the fourth to be held on June 3, 2008 in Jakarta.
Pakistan and ASEAN are discussing the finalisation of a Free Trade Agreement. Meanwhile, Pakistan has signed the FTA with Malaysia in November 2007. Talks on conclusion of FTA with some other Asean countries are also going on. A number of activities are envisaged to broaden the ASEAN-Pakistan co-operation.
Over the year, Pak-ASEAN relationship has matured into a productive partnership. Trade with ASEAN has increased to US $3 billion. Pakistan is an active member of Asean Regional Forum (ARF), Asia Co-operation Dialogue (ACD) and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
It is seeking collaborative relationship with ASEAN countries in economic and technical spheres. This is a manifestation of Pakistan's pursuit of "Vision East Asia" to forge close political and economic ties with Asean countries.