The 13th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), which will take place in central Da Nang city from June 18-21, will focus on combating terrorism and human trafficking.

The information was released by Lieutenant General Do Kim Tuyen, Deputy Head of the General Department of Crime Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Public Security, on June 17.

Besides plenary sessions, heads of delegations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold meetings to discuss their experience and measures to prevent crime in member nations and boost the association’s cooperation in transnational crime prevention and control.

They will consider approving cooperation and information exchange mechanisms; underline mutual help in the struggle against cyber crime, corruption and money laundering.

During the SOMTC, consultations and meetings between ASEAN members and dialogue partners will also take place to work out measures and mechanisms to share information about the regional crime situation, programmes to improve the countries’ anti-terrorism capacity, and their cooperation orientations.

It is also an opportunity for them to review their cooperation in the struggle against transnational crime and discuss prioritised areas of crime prevention.

The annual SOMTC is a preparatory event for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime.
This year’s meeting will see the participation of the 10 ASEAN member nations; the ASEAN Secretariat; and the association’s dialogue partners including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, the US and the European Union.-VNA