Vietnam strengthens cooperation in preventing transnational crime in ASEAN

Public Security Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Luong Tam Quang meets with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in Vientiane on August 28. (Source: VNA)

During the meeting, Minister Quang thanked the ASEAN Chief and the ASEAN Secretariat for their support to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security in the effective implementation of cooperation activities within the framework of the multilateral ASEAN Mechanism for Preventing and Combating Transnational Crime.

He affirmed that Vietnam has always regarded ASEAN as one of the important pillars of the country’s foreign policy. In the nearly 30 years of Vietnam’s participation in ASEAN, it has successfully served as ASEAN Chair three times and contributed greatly to building an ASEAN community of solidarity, peace, stability, security, prosperity and self-reliance, thus contributing to the effective implementation of ASEAN Community Vision 2025 in all three pillars, and developing a strategy for implementing ASEAN Community Vision 2045.

Quang stressed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, for the Political-Security Community, is always committed to actively and responsibly joining the efforts of ASEAN countries to address global issues and contribute to an international environment of peace and stability, including the AMMTC Cooperation Mechanism and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters (AMMD) on the prevention and combating of transnational crime.

He proposed that the ASEAN chief and the ASEAN Secretariat continue to support Vietnam in the coming period by taking on the chairmanship or co-chairmanship in the prevention of one of the ten transnational crimes that ASEAN prioritizes to combat and in which Vietnam is strong.

Vietnam wishes that its initiatives and cooperation projects within the framework of the cooperation mechanism of the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) receive continued support from Kao Kim Hourn and the ASEAN Secretariat, he said.

Quang continued that they will create conditions for civil servants from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security to apply for positions in functional units of the ASEAN Secretariat, so that they can improve their ability to work in an international environment and quickly meet the requirements for promoting comprehensive and extensive international integration.

As coordinator of ASEAN-UK and ASEAN-New Zealand relations for the period 2024-2027, Vietnam aims to contribute more to enhancing cooperation in preventing and combating transnational crime between ASEAN and the two partners, he said. He suggested that the ASEAN chief and the ASEAN Secretariat actively support the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and ASEAN countries in putting forward specific proposals and initiatives for cooperation to make the most of cooperation mechanisms in the region.

Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, in turn, praised Vietnam’s contributions to the ASEAN community and its coordination within ASEAN.

He highly commended the cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security in training and improving the capacity and skills of law enforcement officers in ASEAN.

He said he welcomes Vietnamese officials joining the ASEAN Secretariat.

He commended Vietnam for the successful coordination of ASEAN-Republic of Korea relations for the period 2021-2024 and proposed that Vietnam continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination between ASEAN-New Zealand and ASEAN-United Kingdom in the period 2023-2027.

The ASEAN Secretariat always stands ready to work with the ministry to implement activities and projects that enhance the capacity of law enforcement officials in ASEAN countries, he affirmed.