Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz flew back into Pakistan Thursday night after a four-nation Southeast Asian visit, winning support for Pakistan's bid to become full dialogue partner of The Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and achieving significant progress on free trade agreements (FTAs) with these countries, officials said. Aziz visited Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore during his week-long visit to the region as part of "Vision East Asia Policy" that seeks to strengthen relations with ASEAN and other countries of Asia Pacific. The prime minister described his visit as very successful and said assurance of host governments to support Pakistan's bid for full dialogue partnership status with ASEAN and agreement on early conclusion of FTAs with Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore were major achievements. He said the four countries endorsed Pakistan's proposal to sign a declaration on cooperation in counter-terrorism with ASEAN. The prime minister met with the top leadership in these countries and projected Pakistan as an attractive destination for investment, due to its strategic location and rising economy. Officials said a major success of the visit was the positive outcome of his talks with these countries on FTA.
