351. The year saw continued consultations and cooperation between ASEAN and Pakistan to advance the sectoral Dialogue relationship. On 8 March 1996, Pakistan submitted a comprehensive study entitled Pakistan and ASEAN: A Dialogue for Partnership. The main report consisted of a list of Possible Areas of ASEAN-Pakistan Cooperation and a proposed Action Plan for Cooperation while a companion volume presents a more detailed analysis on the prospects for cooperation in trade, investment, industry and environment sectors.

352. These reports, which have been referred to the ASEAN Standing Committee, Senior Economic Officials Meeting and the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment, could form a useful basis for discussions between concerned officials from ASEAN and Pakistan. Pakistan undertook the study at the suggestion of the Secretary-General of ASEAN during his visit to Pakistan from 21-23 March 1995.

353. In a demonstration of Pakistan's growing interest in the region, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, H.E. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, visited Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia in March 1996. The Prime Minister's delegation was joined by a team of Pakistan’s leading industrialists and investors. The latter concluded several major joint ventures with their ASEAN counterparts. The Prime Minister also visited the Philippines in February 1995, Singapore in March 1995 and Malaysia in July 1995. In addition, H.E. Mr. Shahid Hasan Khan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan, paid a courtesy call on the Secretary-General of ASEAN at the ASEAN Secretariat on 8 February 1996.

354. The 51st Council Meeting of the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI) in Jakarta on 11 April 1996 requested that Malaysia's CCI explore the possibility of establishing an ASEAN-Pakistan Business Council comprising private sector representatives from both sides.