Pakistan looks forward to being upgraded into an ASEAN full dialogue partner during Malaysia's chairmanship of the regional grouping this year, said a senior Pakistani official.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal said he was confident Malaysia could help the South Asian country better integrate with the association and its member states, Malaysian News Agency Bernama reported.

The minister said he believed that as an ASEAN full dialogue partner, Pakistan would have better cooperation and relations in various sectors such as trade, culture and social as well as student exchange and media exchange programmes.

Pakistan was accorded the status of a sectoral dialogue partner on July 23, 1993.-VNA