Overview

• Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan hosted envoys from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam and Myanmar in Islamabad to deepen economic ties.
• Pakistan invited ASEAN firms to invest in Special Economic Zones under CPEC with an offer to export to Pakistan, add value locally and re-export to other markets.
• Envoys welcomed the outreach and agreed to prepare a cooperation roadmap, while Malaysia invited Pakistani companies to join its growing chip-making sector.
• The minister briefed diplomats on tariff rationalization, a new vehicle import policy, progress toward a GCC free trade agreement and the launch of a Trade Dispute Resolution Commission.
• Islamabad framed CPEC and its geography as a gateway for regional transit trade and highlighted recent macroeconomic stabilization under a $7 billion IMF program.