The 15th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes (AMMTC) of the ASEAN’s Political-Security Community and its Related Meetings chaired by Brunei Darussalam continued yesterday through videoconferencing.
The meetings were attended by AMMTC Leaders/Ministers and Senior Officials from the 10 ASEAN member states, ASEAN’s dialogue partner states, China, Japan and Korea, and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat. Senior Officials led by Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Soe Htut, the AMMTC Leader of Myanmar, joined the meetings from Nay Pyi Taw.
The meetings focused on non-traditional security issues, the fight against extremism and the financing of terrorism; financial, technical and training assistance programmes from the dialogue partners; cooperation in potential sectors in combating transnational crimes in the post-COVID-19 period.
At the 8th AMMTC+ China coordination meeting co-chaired by Union Minister Lt-Gen Soe Htut and Permanent Deputy Minister for Public Security of China Mr Du Hangwei, the Union Minister called for further discussion and implementation of the establishment of a national focal point to facilitate effective and speedy coordination between ASEAN member states and law enforcement authorities in China for non-traditional security issues in the region. He also discussed matters related to the fight against money laundering and illegal flow of money and to increase border management activities to eliminate illegal drug trafficking. The Union Minister also said about capacity building in the prevention of violence, human trafficking, wildlife trafficking and cybercrimes as these have a significant impact on regional stability and socio-economic development of the region. He also said the need to provide mutual assistance in the judiciary, and ways to enhance cooperation in the exchange of information on criminal cases.
At the 11th AMMTC+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) meeting, the Union Minister said cooperation among the countries needs to be enhanced as telecom fraud and online gambling are spreading to more than one country. He urged the partner countries to assist in the implementation of the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2396 to prevent the movement of terrorists, including foreign terrorists, in advance. He said he expects to discuss in person at the 12th AJCTD to be held in Myanmar in 2022, and Myanmar will continue to cooperate for the successful implementation of the ASEAN+3 sectors.
The 16th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes and its Related Meetings will be chaired by Cambodia in 2022, it is reported. — MNA
