Jakarta, 20 September 2023 (TDI): Ambassador Ameer Khurram Rathore, Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific), co-chaired the 7th ASEAN-Pakistan Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (APJSCC) meeting with the ASEAN Council of Permanent Representatives.
The two sides decided to reestablish their relationship by further solidifying it via cooperative efforts that provided concrete results for both sides.
The conference discussed the implementation of the ASEAN-Pakistan Sectoral Dialogue Partnership: Practical Cooperation Areas (2019–2021; extended to 2023).
The meeting took note of the successful implementation of the ASEAN-Pakistan Business Conference in August 2023.
The Conference resulted in the organization of 400 business-to-business meetings and the signing of actual business agreements between ASEAN companies and MSMEs in Pakistan.
During the summit, participants discussed various areas of future cooperation pertaining to the three pillars of the ASEAN Community.
The summit anticipated stepping up cooperation in the political domain to combat terrorism, violent extremism, radicalization, and transnational crimes.
The meeting anticipated stepping up cooperation in areas like trade & investment, digital economy, public-private & business-to-business networking & linkages, food security, tourism, transportation, science & technology, information and communication technology, and customs, among others, on the economic front.
The meeting’s sociocultural focus included looking at ways to collaborate on issues including disaster management, climate change, women’s empowerment, education, human resource development, culture, broadcasting, public health & cross-cultural interactions.
During the Summit, the participants warmly welcomed the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and expressed enthusiasm for potential cooperation and assistance in connectivity, sustainable development, and closing the development gap.
Both parties also agreed upon the development of the ASEAN-Pakistan Practical Cooperation Areas for the period 2024-2028.
It will serve as a framework and provide practical guidance for accomplishing shared objectives and corresponding priorities in the upcoming years.
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Ameer Khurram Rathore, Additional Secretary (Asia-Pacific) at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Economic Community, co-chaired the meeting.
A delegate from Timor-Leste engaged as an observer together with other members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN or their representatives and their separate delegations.
