SOMTC 17 discusses measures to counter transnational crimes
PSNews-The 17th ASEAN’s Senior Officials’ Meeting on Transnational crime (SOMTC 17) officially opened in Vientiane, Laos on May 24.
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It is an important annual meeting of law enforcement agencies of ASEAN member countries.
The meeting featured appearance of various senior officials from various ASEAN’s member countries, partners and international organizations.
The Vietnam’s delegation was led by Lieutenant General Tran Van Ve, Acting Director of the General Department of Police (GD2).
SOMTC 17 is a forum for ASEAN member countries to discuss and evaluate the situation and results of the fight against transnational crimes in the area, including terrorism, illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, human trafficking, piracy, arms smuggling, international economic crime, high-tech crime, illicit wildlife and forestry trade and money laundering.
At the meeting, ASEAN members reviewed a number of important ASEAN contents such as the SOMTC working programs for the period of 2016-2018, updates on the progress of the implementation of the ASEAN’s 2025 Security – Politics Community Master Plan, preparation for the agenda for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime Prevention and Combat in 2017.
In addition to the SOMTC 17 Meeting, other relevant events will also be held. These include consultations between SOMTC with dialogue partners, namely China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Russia, EU, New Zealand, USA, Canada and India.
As stated by Lieutenant General Tran Van Ve, Acting Director of the GD2, Vietnam has always effectively fulfilled demands of other countries for the exchange of criminal information in ASEAN’s priority areas, criminal support, criminal pursuit and extradition.
He also emphasized threats posed by terrorism, human trafficking and high-tech crime to the region, suggesting that in the coming time, law enforcement agencies of ASEAN member countries should further strengthen cooperation in sharing information, exchanging experiences and effectively implementing ASEAN programs and plans on prevention and combat against such crimes in order to ensure regional security and order.
The Vietnamese delegation also proposed several ideas for cooperation in crime prevention in ASEAN in areas such as retrieving criminal assets, fugitives pursuit and cyber terrorism.
