18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime takes place in Vientiane, Laos

ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, together with ASEAN Ministers responsible for combating transnational crime, and East Timor as an observer, attended the 18th meeting.^and ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 28 August 2024. The meeting was held under the theme “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience” and was chaired by Lao PDR. SG Dr. Kao delivered an opening speech at the opening ceremony, expressing his willingness to work closely with ASEAN member states to intensify their efforts to shape ASEAN’s collective agenda to combat both current and emerging transnational crime. The meeting exchanged views on recent and emerging trends in transnational crime and the progress of the implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action (PoA) in Combating Transnational Crime (2016-2025). The meeting also adopted a Declaration, a Joint Statement and other guiding documents as outcome documents. The 18^and AMMTC welcomed Malaysia as the new AMMTC Chairman in 2025. Consultations with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Plus Three will take place the following day.

The opening speech of Secretary-General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn at the 18th AMMTC is available at the following link:https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Draft-SGs-Remarks-at-Opening-Ceremony-of-the-18th-AMMTC-28Aug24-clean.pdf

The 18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime takes place in Vientiane, Laos appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.