Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has arrived in Laos to attend the Asia Europe Summit.
He was received by Laotian Minister for Natural Resources at Vientiane‚ accompanied by the Pakistan Ambassador to Laos Shahid M. G. Kiyani at the airport.
The Prime Minister will be participating in the summit at the invitation of the government of Laos. The theme for the summit will be “Friends for Peace, Partners for Prosperity”.
The Prime Minister will have a hectic schedule during the visit and will hold meetings on the sidelines of the summit with many heads of the state and government besides delivering a statement at the summit, a statement from the PM office said.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Asia-Europe Summit at Laos is an important forum of coordination and his visit is of an important nature.
Talking to media at Nur Khan (Chaklala) Airbase before his departure to Laos‚ he said Pakistan enjoys good and pleasant relationships with Laos. He said Pakistan wants uniformity in relationships with this country and it is an important forum between the Asian and European countries having membership of 51 countries.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said during the visit he would meet the leaders of Russia‚ Australia‚ Malaysia‚ Finland‚ European Union‚ Laos‚ Indonesia‚ and Sweden.
He said he would share views with them as Pakistan is an important country of the region and we want to apprise them about the challenges we face. He said the objective of the summit is to increase cooperation for peace‚ stability‚ development and prosperity.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said he would make a statement at the Summit apprising the world leaders about the situation and challenges faced by Pakistan and how to cope with them. He said Laos is an important regional country having close relations with Pakistan and he would discuss with its leaders ways to further strengthen ties between the two countries in all spheres.
The Prime Minister will hold bilateral meeting with President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, President of European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Laos, Thongsing Thammavong, President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister of Sweden.
ASEM dialogue is facilitated by four ASEM coordinators, two from Asia and two from Europe. Pakistan is one of the coordinators from Asia along with Laos this year.
Pakistan has been actively participating in the summit at ministerial level meetings, the statement said.
The ASEM was launched in 1996, and it has expanded its membership from 26 at its birth to the present 48 partners from Asia and Europe.
The summit will provide opportunity for leaders of Asia and Europe to discuss regional and international issues of common interest and concern, including, among others, food and energy security, sustainable development, financial and economic crisis, climate change, natural disaster response, socio-cultural cooperation and future direction of ASEM.
