Bali, 5 February 1999

Your Excellency, Mr Shamshad Ahmad Khan,
Foreign Secretary of Pakistan

Your Excellency, Mr. Afzal Akbar Khan,
Ambassador of Pakistan to Indonesia

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of my ASEAN colleagues, I would like to extend to you and your delegation our sincere and warm welcome to Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Last evening we had a good opportunity to exchange views. Although ours is a relatively short one-day meeting, I believe we will be able to adequately review developments in the Sectoral Dialogue since the Inaugural Meeting in Islamabad in November 1997; and, more importantly, to further exchange views on how to strengthen our relations through practical cooperation activities for mutual benefit.

At the outset, I would like to express our appreciation for the enthusiasm and efforts of Pakistan in pursuing the Sectoral Dialogue by proposing many ideas and project proposals. The ASEAN Ambassadors in Islamabad, through their ASEAN Islamabad Committee, have also been an active and useful link in providing us with useful insights and ideas. At the same time, we in Jakarta have been in close contact with Ambassador Afzal Akbar Khan and his staff at the Embassy of Pakistan. Although the Ambassador is a newcomer in Jakarta, he has quickly established a pleasant relationship with us at the ASEAN Secretariat.

However, despite our enthusiasm and common efforts, I cannot be sanguine about the slow pace of development in the ASEAN-Pakistan Sectoral Dialogue. And it is no consolation to recall that from the very beginning, we in ASEAN realized - and I believe Pakistan understood -- that it would be an uphill task to generate and sustain interest in concrete cooperative activities with Pakistan particularly at this time.

I believe we are quite familiar with the reasons: We are too far apart geographically. Our trade is small. Our politicians, government officials and business people know little about each other.

Now the infamous East Asian Crisis has brought severe financial hardship upon many ASEAN Member States and this is a new and more serious handicap slowing us down further still. The financial difficulties have significantly discouraged many of our ASEAN Committees and Sub- Committees from venturing into new external cooperation activities for fear of over-committing themselves at a time of diminishing resources.

Moreover, the financial constraints have forced the ASEAN private sector to cut down expenditures and concentrate on immediate needs namely business survival. In this unprecedented emergency, one of the first activities to be discarded is external relations that have no direct and immediate bearing on business survival. This explains why the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( ASEAN-CCI) had to request a postponement of the trade workshop in Islamabad last June, even when the Pakistani host was prepared to fully fund the participation of an ASEAN delegation.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The impact of the crisis is indeed debilitating. However, we in ASEAN are not in despair. On the contrary, as we will explain in more detail in our presentation of the Hanoi Plan of Action, we are intensifying our joint ASEAN efforts to overcome all the economic difficulties, restore social and economic stability and get back on the path towards sustainable growth and all-round development. We believe we are, collectively and individually, doing the right things and putting in place the necessary reforms.

At the same time we are also revitalizing ASEAN's relations and cooperation with all partners and friends in order to enhance ASEAN's role as an effective force for peace, justice and moderation. In other words, ASEAN will continue to be outward-looking.

Incidentally, I should add here that Pakistan is the first partner with whom ASEAN shares its Hanoi Plan of Action in a formal setting like this. The primary emphasis in the Hanoi Plan of Action is on improving the current economic situation in the ASEAN region. Yet, the Hanoi Plan of Action, which is now our principal guide for the next six years, also contains priorities in virtually all the areas of cooperation covered by the ASEAN- Pakistan Sectoral Dialogue.

What we need to do is to be innovative in developing cooperation ideas and formulating joint project activities by properly matching the priorities of ASEAN - as clearly spelled out in the Hanoi Plan of Action -- with the unique and outstanding expertise of Pakistan. I believe Pakistan can find its own niche in the vast external relations of ASEAN. Let me cite one simple example to illustrate my point:

ASEAN is keen to enhance the global competitiveness of its food products. Pakistan, on the other hand, may have expertise in halal food production which all the other partners of ASEAN lack. One obvious cooperation possibility between ASEAN and Pakistan is the conduct of collaborative research to develop and improve technologies in halal food production. This can open up new profitable joint venture opportunities and lucrative markets in ASEAN and Pakistan as well as in the Middle East.

In this connection, the active participation of the private sector from both sides is imperative. I am delighted to have met and learned from the President of the Pakistan Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who is on the Pakistan Delegation, that there is keen interest in Pakistan to enter into joint ventures with ASEAN. This being the case, I earnestly hope that the ASEAN-CCI and its Pakistani counterpart will soon be able to re- schedule their ASEAN-Pakistan Business Council meeting, which was earlier set for late January 1999 in Karachi. I also see clear merit in reviving the idea of a trade and investment workshop in Islamabad, if its funding support is still available.

Another point that we should bear in mind as we go about exploring cooperation ideas is this: We should avoid creating new working groups or committees, unless it is absolutely necessary. As a matter of fact, the mood in ASEAN and this is especially true in the case of our Senior Economic Officials is to disband as many working groups and experts groups as quickly as possible.

In order to make full use of our scarce resources and time, consultations and meetings with ASEAN's external partners are now usually conducted back- to-back with some regular ASEAN meetings. This Meeting with Pakistan, for example, is held back-to-back with our ASEAN Standing Committee Meeting.

As things stand now, I see no compelling reason to set up any new mechanism in the Sectoral Dialogue. The various ASEAN economic and technical bodies meet quite frequently all year round. We will provide the Pakistan Delegation with a schedule of ASEAN meetings of 1999. In fact, the schedule is readily available on our ASEANWEB and it is regularly updated. We will also provide names and addresses of focal points of the ASEAN bodies so that interested parties in Pakistan can contact them directly and start exchanging views and information. After a number of ideas have gained mutual acceptance and support, formal consultations can follow, to coincide with a regular meeting of the ASEAN body concerned. Let me give another example:

The narcotics control authorities in Pakistan can get in touch directly with the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD) and exchange information on how the two sides could cooperate in activities of mutual interest. I believe both sides are doing more or less similar activities as they try to combat the evil narcotic trade and rehabilitate drug addicts. If all goes well and strong mutual interest emerges, then formal consultations could be convened at the forthcoming 21st Meeting of ASOD in Jakarta, scheduled for early April 1999. More often than not, exchanging information on ongoing activities requires very little additional resources. Moreover, some distinctive and high new value-added joint activities could attract funding support and/or technical assistance from some third parties such as the UNDCP, UNDP and ADB.

This modality can also be used in establishing direct contacts between Pakistan and the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN), Committee on Science and Technology (COST) and ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), etc.

The ASEAN Secretariat stands ready to assist Pakistan and the ASEAN bodies of interest to establish and develop their direct links. In addition, ASEAN-Pakistan cooperation can be pursued through the relations between ASEAN and ECO at the inter-regional level. In this regard, I hope to benefit from the experience of Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan, who was formerly the Secretary-General of ECO. His keen interest in promoting ASEAN-ECO cooperation will undoubtedly further reinforce the position of Pakistan as a vital link and enhance the ASEAN-Pakistan Sectoral Dialogue in the process.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to underline the ASEAN's commitment to strengthening the Sectoral Dialogue relationship with Pakistan. We in ASEAN highly value the friendship of Pakistan and we will do everything we can to overcome all obstacles and quicken the pace of cooperation in the Sectoral Dialogue.

This Meeting is a good opportunity for us to work out practical measures and take concrete steps to do so. I am confident that our joint endeavour will soon bear fruit.

After all, we are meeting in "Paradise," as Bali is widely recognized as a holy abode of gods. In "Paradise" all noble wishes and prayers are usually fulfilled on a "fast track" basis.