Pakistan PM to visit SE Asia

Pakistan PM to visit SE Asia

PAKISTAN: Pakistan prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali will embark on a nine-day tour of Southeast and East Asia this week to boost ties with the region, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Jamali will leave on Wednesday in a trip which will see him stop off in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. He will also address an economic forum in Hainan, China and address and investment conference in Hong Kong, the ministry said.

"The prime minister's visit to Southeast Asia is a major step toward the realization of Pakistan's Vision East Asia," the spokesman said.

Pakistan's Vision East Asia "essentially envisages building strong cooperative ties with Southeast Asian states, ASEAN and associate closely with the important regional processes in the broader Asia-Pacific region."

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. --AFP